


Far Sight

by BicMomma



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime 2003), Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-29
Updated: 2018-01-20
Packaged: 2018-04-07 01:37:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 39
Words: 63,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4244652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BicMomma/pseuds/BicMomma
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sheska's day is not going well. A seemingly innocent visit with a friend spirals out of control and leads her entire world being turned upside down. Now left with powers she barely understands and running from monsters at every turn, Sheska is protected by a single promise with the knowledge that adventures can get someone like her killed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

            _The sound of explosions rent the air._

            “I never should have drug you into this, Sheska.” She told the sobbing bespectacled woman whose lap she rested on. “This is all my fault.”

            Sheska gulped hard, hot tears slipping down her cheeks as she whispered a denial.

            “I shouldn’t have just stood there — and you _warned_ me but I went ahead and now...” exclaimed the older woman shaking her head, plastering her short chestnut hair to her face.

            Tears dripped down, striking the blindfolded girl on her pale cheeks. She reached up with a bloodied hand and touched the droplets before touching her fingertips to her forehead. Then she smiled up at Sheska, lifting her arms up to her and automatically Sheska placed them on her cheeks.

            “Shh.” The girl told her, moving her hands under Sheska’s glasses and over her hazel eyes. “I told you if you came with me, nothing would ever hurt you.”

            All of a sudden, images and memories not her own invaded Sheska’s brain. The former librarian let out a choked scream as she saw the nameless girl screaming and madly clawing at her eyes. Blood rushing out of the missing wedged portion of the girl’s face. Her laughing in relief, blond hair slick with blood, still clutching the hatchet she used.

            Sheska clawed at the slender hands, her glasses falling to the floor, her mouth working silently as another wave of sounds and images poured into her mind.

            “ ** _Monster_ , _Abomination_** _!_ ” a familiar voice screamed from the blurred shadows.

            _“He’ll never love you.”_ Said a woman’s ruby red lips with a coy smile.

            _“Never call me that! I am your master!”_ shrieked another angry woman’s crimson lips.

* * *

 

            A nearby explosion and the sensation of being in motion jolted Sheska into consciousness. She opened her eyes and spied a rippling black blur, then a flash of white.

            “If you’re done staring at my ass, will you start running on your own!?” Envy snapped.  Sheska looked up disoriented and found the spiky haired homunculus racing down hallways with her tossed over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

            “What’s—” she said before Envy cut her off.

            “Going on? Half of Central’s military is shooting at us.” He, at least Sheska supposed it was a he, snapped at her.

            Just then a bullet tore away a piece of the wall inches away from Sheska’s head. She let out a scream and grabbed the first thing her hands could grasp: Envy’s rump. The only reaction he gave was a small jolt before ducking into a conveniently located broom closet.

            “Well that was _fun_.” Envy commented as he dumped Sheska unceremoniously to the ground. “Remind me to send the Führer a card.”

            “Ok…” she replied faintly as the sin leaned against the door and she scooted to the other end of the small dusky room.

            Sheska took this time to study the homunculus and gather her scattered wits. His hair was dark green, long and spiky. There was a restless energy about his movements. The darting of his violet gaze between the door and her then back again with every explosion. The muscles beneath his sinewy legs coiled as Envy began to pace.

            “Uh-h”

            “Shut up.” Envy snapped. “And quit staring at me! You would think you’d never seen a guy before.”

            “Not one wearing a skirt.” Sheska muttered darkly. She crossed her arms in front of her as she scowled.

            “Do you mind explaining how and why half of the army is currently shooting and trying to hunt us down?” she asked bitterly.

            Envy sighed and leaned back up against the door. His face clouded with uneasiness before he casually inquired, “How much do you know about Nicollete?”

            “Nicollete?”

            The homunculus began pacing again. Sheska watched him for a moment, sensing his agitation and just when she opened her mouth to say something, Envy spoke.

            “The blind girl you came here with? Don’t tell me you didn’t know the name of the person who took a bullet and died for you?”

            Sheska felt herself begin to tremble. A sob escaped from her mouth before tears came pouring from her eyes. It wasn’t the caustic remark that hurt. It was the memory of a young girl with a sweet smile and a blindfold over her eyes that caused a raw and primitive grief to overwhelm her.

            She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up startled to find Envy kneeling in front of her. He wasn’t looking at her, instead glaring at a point off to one side but she figured it was the thought behind the action that counted.

            “I read to her.” Sheska said with a sniff. “It was one of the jobs I used to have at the library. Read to the patients in the institution; make them forget where they were for the moment. She was one of the teenagers there.”

            “She ever mentioned how she became blind?” Envy inquired with a faint smile. Sheska shook her head and furiously wiped her eyes. He rose to his feet, walked over and pressed his ear to the door.

            “Did she ever tell you something that later came true?” he asked indifferently and ice suddenly ran through her veins. Sheska gasped and Envy shot at her a grin over his shoulder.

            “So, you knew _that_ much.”

            “H-how d-did—”

            Envy snickered, “Let’s just say her and I had a… _history_.”

            Before Sheska could reply however, the homunculus held up a hand to silence her and focused his attention on the door. The myopic young woman was quiet only because she sensed he’d silence her himself if provoked.

            She _really_ didn’t want to irritate him.

            “Here’s the plan,” Envy told her. “We’re going to make a break for it as soon as the hall clears.”

            “And then what?” Sheska asked quietly. “I can go back home and forget I helped an escapee from a mental hospital break you out?”

            Envy turned and shot her a wry look over his shoulder, “You can forget about ever going home.”

            “Y-you’re kidnapping me?!” she squeaked as a surge of fear coursed through her body.

            “I knew I shouldn’t have listened to her when she said she wanted to help out a friend!” Sheska cried loudly as Envy turned and put his ear back to the door. “She escaped from a mental hospital, _of course_ she’d be friends with a cross dressing alien guy captured by the military!”

            “ _Alien_?! Oh quit your whining.” He snapped. “You think I want to be stuck with a four eyed, homely ex librarian who has no social life whatsoever.”

            “I do _too_ have a social life!” Sheska retorted. “And how are you ‘stuck with me’— _you’re_ the abductor!”

            “I’m not kidnapping you!” Envy exclaimed in frustration.

            “Then what would you call it?”

            Before Sheska could blink, the homunculus was across the room, had her on her feet and viciously gripped her by her shoulders. Violet eyes blazing with hatred bore down on her.

            “You had best shut up and do what I say.” Envy growled as Sheska flinched.

            “Understand?” He added with a rough shake and she nodded. Envy released her and went back to the door to listen. The sound of boots running past the door came and went as Envy cracked open the door and peeked outside.

            “It’s clear, let’s go” he told Sheska opening the door wider and motioned to her. When she didn’t come, Envy turned and glared at her.

            The bespectacled young woman still stood where he had left her shaking like a leaf. She had her arms wrapped around her as if they could offer her solace. Her head was bowed but the homunculus could see tears run down her cheeks. Envy sighed, his anger cooling at the pathetic sight Sheska made in her sensible shoes, plain green skirt and green and tan striped blouse.

            “I’ll explain everything once we’re safe.” He told her. She looked up at him meekly, took a step and took his proffered hand. It closed around hers gently as they both cautiously stepped outside the closet.

* * *

 

            Sheska couldn’t remember how her and Envy made it out of the Central Military Headquarters. She couldn’t recall exactly how they eluded the soldiers stationed there and made it to the train station. Nor could Sheska exactly remember how her and Envy got onto a departing train, only that they did and she was currently curled up in a luggage car. Across from her nearest to the doors, Envy sat watching her watch him.

            “Are we safe now?” she asked breaking the silence that reigned between them.

            “For now.”

            “Will you explain why I can’t go home?” Sheska asked wearily and Envy sighed.

            “Do you want the whole story or parts that pertain to you?”

            “The parts that involve me.”

            Envy chuckled and muttered to himself, “Yeah, it’s not important to know everything yet.”

            “The reason you can’t go home” he told her with a smirk. “Is because you are now a target.”

            “A target?!” Sheska repeated shrilly sitting up suddenly. “Why am I..W-who’d?”

            “My master would like to see you because of what Nicollete did to you.” He answered cheerfully.

            “What did she do to me?” she demanded. “Am I going to die? Did she —” Envy’s snickering cut her off.

            “Remember that ability of hers?” he inquired, adding in case Sheska was as dumb as she looked to him. “The one where she could tell the future?”

            The young woman nodded mutely and Envy smirked.

            “You have it now.”

            Envy waited patiently amused for the eventual explosion of emotions. The homunculus could see a mix of outrage, shock and confusion float across her face before she let out an earsplitting shriek.

            “I should have listened to my mother and married a shoe maker!” Sheska screamed loud enough to force Envy to cover his ears from the shrill onslaught. “Now I’ve been abducted by an alien!”

            “ _I’m not an alien_!”

            Sheska seemed to have ignored Envy’s retort but before she could continue her frantic tirade, a knife-like pain shot suddenly through her eyes and everything shifted. It came as a brief flash but Sheska could see the brief scene clearly played out before she drifted off into unconsciousness.

            A stunning pale woman with full luscious dark tresses and violet eyes sauntered down the aisle of the train with a mission. She wore a dark green dress that clung to her shapely figure and displayed her ample bosom to those who chanced upon a glimpse of her. Displayed quite prominently on her chest was a tattoo of a red winged serpent consuming its tail.

            _An ouroboros_ , something inside Sheska seemed to say.

            When she awoke what seemed moments later, Sheska found Envy at her side looking at her with some concern. He had pushed her glasses away from her face and leaned close to examine her pupils, eliciting a blush from Sheska. The only indication that Envy gave as a reaction was a brief quirk of his lips.

            “W-what was that?” she gasped suddenly aware her head felt as if someone slammed a few dictionaries against her brain. Envy smirked as he slid her glasses back into place and leaned away from her.

            “You saw something?”

            “A prostitute walking down the aisle of a train.”

            All humor faded from the homunculi’s face and a fierce scowl replaced it. He sprang to his feet and jerked Sheska to her own, ignoring her hiss of pain.

            “Did she look like this?” Envy demanded before a waved of white light passed over his body and the exact image of Sheska’s vision stood before her.

            She gasped and pointed, “That’s her!”

            Another wave of light and Envy was back to his original form with a string of curses. He roughly seized her by the wrist and went to turn when out of the blue, razor sharp claws shot through the door to the luggage car and pierced Envy through chest, nearly missing Sheska herself by an inch. The homunculus hadn’t a chance to make a sound as the claws jerked themselves free and the door behind him opened.

            Lust sauntered inside as Envy fell to the ground in a puddle of blood. Sheska covered her mouth to stifle her scream of horror as she watched the life in her companion’s eyes die out. A sultry chuckle and arms slithered out behind and wrapped themselves around the human girl.

            “Don’t be too shocked.” Lust purred in Sheska’s ear. “Just wait. Envy will pop back up any minute.”

            True to the homunculi’s words, Envy jerked and let in a gasp of air…before a claw came up from behind Sheska and stabbed him right between the eyes.

            “We could play this game forever.” Lust said jerking her claw free, splattering blood across Sheska’s face. “It would be really quite amusing to continue but this is our stop. The Master doesn’t like to wait.”

            Lust flung out an arm behind both of them and the side of the train car fell apart in pieces. She tightened her grip around the petrified human, stepping back toward the opening when suddenly Envy’s hand shot out. He jerked Sheska from Lust, swept her legs out from beneath her, nearly at the same moment he kicked the homunculus in the stomach. The resulting momentum sent Lust straight out of the opening and tumbling off the train.

            “That’s what you get for being arrogant.” Envy growled rising to his feet, wiping the blood from his face. He still was firmly gripping Sheska’s wrist, so he felt when she began trembling.

            “This can’t be real.” She whispered staring at where Lust vanished. “I didn’t just—. That woman didn’t—.” Sheska spun and faced Envy, tears streaking down her cheeks. “You’re not human.”

            “Not a bit.”

            Sheska felt the world begin to slip away from her. Black appeared along the edge of her vision. Colors blurred and then there was silence and darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

            Edward Elric had never seen battle. He had never seen the scars bullets could make when striking flesh or walls. He never saw what an explosion could do to a solider or a building, but he supposed as he walked down the halls of Central Military Headquarters, this is what war would look like.

            He strode past small groups of soldiers surrounded by medics bandaging head wounds and handing out band aids to those with less severe injuries. Most were covered in black soot, their faces marred by bruises and cuts. Only one or two were still lying on the floor unconscious.

            A few of the men gave the short blond teen odd looks and asked someone close who Edward was. A brief glance at the watch chain dangling out from his pocket or recognition of the bright red coat over his black clothes confirmed his identity as the infamous Fullmetal Alchemist.

            Edward reached the office of Colonel Roy Mustang and politely knocked on the closed door. His gold eyes narrowed when he heard his commanding officer clear his throat and told him in a terse voice to come in.

            Roy Mustang sat behind his desk liken to a king sitting on his throne. His dark hair was stylishly ruffled, more so than usual Edward noted. His eyes were blank dark mirrors, but Ed swore he detected some weariness there. His blue military uniform however was just as crisp and pressed as always. No doubt, the mysteriously absent Lieutenant Hawkeye was responsible.

            Edward took his normal seat on the couch and waited for the older man to speak, rabid thoughts zipping through his mind. _Hawkeye has been injured. No wait, she’d never be so careless to get injured when she has to baby-sit Mustang. Hawkeye is probably dropping off paperwork for the jerk._

_Maybe he thinks there’s something wrong with Al. It **is** unusual for him to not come report in with me. I’ll tell him that my brother found another kitten and is currently at the hotel playing with it before he’s forced to get rid of it._

            Edward opened his mouth to just do that when Mustang said, “Sheska was abducted last night.”

            “What?”

            The teen’s racing thoughts collided with one another leaving him feeling confused and strangely numb. Mustang sighed and began reading from a sheet of paper sitting on his desk.

            “Capture of a live homunculi subject was successfully executed with the assistance of an unknown female.”

            “What?!” Ed squawked interrupting the colonel’s report. “When-what… _which_ one?!”

            Roy looked up from the sheet of paper with a smirk, “It doesn’t matter anymore.” He lifted the paper and continued reading.

            “…Same unknown female later returned with a woman later identified as Sheska, a former library worker and transcriber for the military and assisted in the escape of the homunculi. The unknown female was shot and killed while the homunculus escaped with Sheska as a possible hostage.”

            “This can’t be true. Sheska helping one of those _monsters_?” Edward screamed jumping up to his feet. “There’s no _‘possible hostage’_ about it. She _was_ kidnapped.”

            Mustang calmly watched as the teen began to angrily pace. Occasionally Edward would clench his fists and let out a frustrated noise. He watched the teen irritably fidget a moment more before speaking up.

            “Hawkeye spoke to a few of the soldiers who were there. They mentioned the unknown female that Sheska came in with wore a blindfold over her eyes. That they both apparently knew one another.”

            “Did they hear a name?” Edward asked ceasing his pacing. Mustang shook his head but gave the teen his trademark ‘ _I know something you don’t_ ’ smirk. He pulled out a thick file and handed it to Ed.

            “Her name was Nicollete Azure.” he said as Ed read the report. “She was a resident at a mental institution due to the fact that when she was six years old, she carved out her eyes.”

            Edward’s face went pale as he flipped through the few pictures of the dead girl without her blindfold.

            “When she was asked why she did it, Miss Azure replied ‘So I wouldn’t have to see it anymore.’ None of the doctors could make her tell them what it was she saw. But—”

            “But what?” Edward closed the file and tossed it onto Mustang’s desk.

            “She was a rather friendly person.” Mustang said abruptly changing the subject. “The nurses said even the Führer would come and play chess. They’d speak for hours about trivial things. How’s the job? How’s your master? Getting along with everyone? Things like that.”

            Edward frowned and Mustang continued still smirking.

            “She escaped from the institution four days ago, managing somehow to slip out of her room, elude security and navigate through the city to… guess whose house.”

            “Sheska’s.”

            “Correct.” Mustang replied. “Her neighbors reported seeing someone climb up onto the roof and grab the house key hidden there. None of them did anything because when they spoke with Sheska later and she told them it was a friend.”

            “Some friend.” Edward muttered. “She goes and gets her kidnapped by one of those monsters.”

            Just then Hawkeye marched in with a stack of papers. She went over, laid them gently on the colonel’s desk and leaned over whispering something in his ear. Mustang whispered something back and the lieutenant left as abruptly as she came.

            During the time, Mustang read the reports, Edward quietly paced and mulled over the facts he currently had. _A mentally ill girl escaped from the hospital where she lived, somehow helped the military capture something that not even Ed himself could beat and then ran off to Sheska’s house._

            Edward ran his fingers through his messy bangs. _That can’t be right! This girl was blind, looked like she was the size of a bean… **How the heck??**_

_And how did she know where Sheska lived? What’s her connection to the Führer? Wait…_ How is your master? _Why would the girl ask—_

Edward came to the same startling revelation as the colonel when the man finally finished reading the new information Hawkeye had gathered.

            “Falman reported in some interesting facts, would you like to hear them?” Mustang inquired and the teen nodded.


	3. Chapter 3

            _“You want to do **what**?!” Sheska asked the blind girl incredulously. The girl laughed and innocently cocked her head to one side._

_“I want to go visit a friend.” She repeated with a smile. “Last time we saw each other I wasn’t very nice to him so I want to go back and apologize.”_

_“No.” Sheska replied immediately. Nervously she ran her hands through her hair. “I let you stay here for two days after you escaped from the hospital. I won’t help you anymore.”_

_“Come on.” Nicollete chided as Sheska paced. “Don’t you want to have an adventure like the ones you’ve read about in books?”_

_“I could be put away for…for… aiding and abetting!” Sheska exclaimed shrilly and the blind girl burst into laughter._

_“You make me sound like a criminal.” She cackled. “It’ll be fine. You can’t be put away for aiding and abetting because you didn’t help me escape, I did that on my own. Plus I escaped from a **hospital** not **prison**.”_

_Sheska was about to open her mouth to argue when Nicollete added. “ **And** you’ve done the best thing for an escaped patient: keep them in one place and away from the general public.”_

_“But you want to go out now!” Sheska whined and the other girl moved her shoulders in a shrug of indifference._

_“I want you to go with me.”_

_“No!”_

_“It’ll be an adventure.”_

_“Adventures can get someone like me killed!”_

_“If you come with me I promise nothing will ever harm you.” she solemnly swore and all resistance poured from Sheska’s body._

_Yes, the bespectacled young woman secretly longed for an adventure like the ones she read in books. She wanted to be the heroine that the hero fought alongside against the forces of evil. She desired to be a femme fatale that could use her wiles to steal into buildings and such._

_Only, she wasn’t very brave or very pretty. In fact if she were a character in a book, Sheska suspected she’d be the sidekick’s annoying friend or a random background character that is used briefly just to move the plot along. Nothing like the blind girl sitting before her._

_But this girl was offering her a chance. An adventure where the danger was harmless and easily controlled. Simply take a blind mentally ill girl to visit a friend, then take her back to the hospital and come home the heroine. Sheska sighed and Nicollete smiled sensing victory._

_“Where is your friend at?” the older girl asked reconciled to her fate._

_“Military Headquarters.”_

_The two girls took a taxi to the multi-story building. Since Sheska was more familiar with the complex, seeing how she worked there, she led the blind girl through the hall up to the front desk. She spoke briefly with the woman in charge of documenting who came and went explaining hers and the blind girl’s business there._

_“We’re just meeting up with a friend.” Sheska told her nervously. The girl beside of her helped out by adding._

_“We’re supposed to see a show **but**..You know how it is when you get so tied up with work y’just lose track of time.” _

_The woman behind the desk nodded and motioned them to go ahead with a friendly smile._

_“So where is your friend?” Sheska whispered as they walked._

_“In a lab probably getting anal probed.” she replied casually and her friend  made a startled noise and did a double take._

_“Why is your friend getting—”_

_“You’ll see.”_

_The blind girl began unerringly leading Sheska by the hand toward her mysterious friend, deftly avoiding random soldiers within the building. It was when the two heard someone angrily call out behind them, the former librarian began to have doubts about their adventure._

_“What are you two doing in this area?” the soldier demanded marching toward them. Sheska trembled in fright, her voice caught somewhere in her throat which left the unfrozen girl at her side to answer the man._

_“We’re looking for my friend.” the blind girl replied brightly. “Have you seen him?”_

_The soldier relaxed for an instant and that was when she struck. In one smooth move, Nicollete released Sheska’s hand, caught the man straight in the gut with a punch then slammed her elbow down on the back his exposed head. He was unconscious in less than five seconds, leaving the former librarian speechless._

_“There’s a broom closet to your left, help me drag him in.” the blind girl ordered already grabbing a hold of the man’s shoulders._

_“H-how did—wh—what did you—?” Sheska sputtered as she grabbed a hold of the man’s legs beneath his knees._

_“You don’t need eyes to kick butt.” Was all the blind girl said as together they stashed the guard’s body._

_Not long after the first, another soldier was similarly dispatched by sweeping the legs out from him and kicking the man in the face. He too was hidden away, this time in an empty office before the two young ladies continued._

_The lab was empty, lights turned off but machines left running. Attached to the machines chained to a table was the homunculus Sheska would come to know as Envy._

_“Hello old friend.” Nicollete greeted as her and Sheska walked in. His head slowly turned toward her and unfocused violet eyes peered at her._

_“Here to see your handy work?” He muttered then suddenly snickered. “Oh wait, you’re not supposed be able to see.”_

_“Still a jerk even while heavily medicated.” She replied with a smirk. “Anyway, we’re here to bust you out.”_

_“What?! You can’t be serious” Sheska exclaimed as the blind girl began turning off machines and yanking out I.V.’s. “I thought you said you wanted to just talk.”_

_“Yeah, didn’t you just put me here?” Envy asked his words slightly less slurred than before._

_“After seeing the deplorable conditions of your internment—” she began before Sheska interrupted._

_“You’re blind! How can you see **anything**?!” she screamed and Envy began cackling madly._

_“After all the trouble you went through setting me up for the military to capture, you’re honestly going to release me.” He asked with a smirk._

_“And help you get outta here, you must not forget that.” the girl added with a big happy grin. Envy snickered as he snapped his chains and sat up. Sheska gasped at the display of raw strength._

_“Oh no, I mustn’t forget that.” He told her with false sweetness as Sheska began backing toward the exit. When the homunculus glanced at her, the young woman squeaked and sprinted out the door._

_“Sheska?” Nicollete said looking around the room. She cursed and spun on Envy, “You scared her! If she’s—”_

_The blind girl grabbed a hold of Envy’s arm and tugged him toward the door. The homunculi_ _allowed the small girl to lead him and together they raced after the frightened former librarian._

_Sheska let fear lead her and skidded around a corner ignoring her friend’s cries behind her. It wasn’t until she slid around another corner straight into a line of soldiers bearing rifles aimed at her did she remember how dangerous her little adventure had become._

_As the men brought their arms up to fire at the frozen target before them, Sheska recalled her words earlier to the blind girl. **Adventures can get someone like her killed**_. _Just as the soldiers fired something crashed into her._

_Sheska expected some sort of pain but felt none as something sped past her and the sounds of conflict filled the air. Someone whimpered and the woman opened her eyes she didn’t realize she had squeezed closed._

_A vivid red blindfold peered back at her. A wan smile. A dying blind girl. Sheska gasped glancing down at the rapidly expanding blood stain on Nicollete’s clothes. Explosions rent the air as the blind girl rolled off of her friend. Sheska drew her into her lap as tears filled her eyes and she began to cry._

_“I never should have drug you into this, Sheska.” Nicollete told her. “This is all my fault.”_

_Sheska gulped hard, hot tears slipping down her cheeks as she whispered a denial._

_“I shouldn’t have just stood there — and you warned me but I went ahead and now...” exclaimed the older woman shaking her head, plastering her short hair to her face._

_Tears dripped down, striking the blindfolded girl on her pale cheeks. She reached up with a bloodied hand and touched the droplets before touching her fingertips to her forehead. Then she smiled up at Sheska, lifting her arms up to her and automatically Sheska placed them on her cheeks._

_“Shh.” The girl told her, moving her hands under Sheska’s glasses and over her hazel eyes. “I told you if you came with me, nothing would ever hurt you.”_

_Envy had just finished taking care of the last soldier when he heard the bespectacled young woman gasp. He saw her claw at the slender hands covering eyes, her mouth working silently before whatever was happening became too much for her and she fell back in a dead faint._

_“Envy, my old friend.” He heard Nicollete whisper. The homunculi_ _went to the dying girl’s side and knelt beside her._

_“I’m sorry I won’t be able to fulfill that promise I made you.” She told him. “But so long as Sheska is alive, my pledge lives on in her.”_

_“She’ll show me where **he** is?”_

_“Yes.” the blind girl sighed. “Promise me you’ll keep Sheska safe, old friend. Swear you’ll keep her away from—”_

_Envy gently placed a fingertip to her lips._

_“I promise.”_


	4. Chapter 4

            Sheska awoke to the sound of a shower running and the feel of a soft bed beneath her. She blearily sat up, the springs beneath her letting out a soft squeal and gazed around the room.

            A metal chair was wedged underneath the door and sole exit. Dingy drapes were drawn over the window and the single lamp beside the bed was turned on. Only when Sheska noticed her clothes dropped over the dresser drying across from her did she realize she was nude. She let out a self-conscious noise and clutched the blankets to her as the shower cut off and Envy stepped out.

            The towel hung dangerously low around his waist revealing more pale skin that even his normal outfit displayed. He had a second towel draped over his head, concealing most of his face and hair but Sheska swore she saw hints of gold.

            “Morning.” He greeted in a deeper melodious voice she hadn’t heard before. Sheska expected Envy’s voice to be the same he had been using before, the one that made him sound like a feminine chain smoker. The only indication she had it really _was_ Envy peering behind the shadows of the towel was brief peeks of the ouroboros on his thigh as he walked.

            “It’s morning?” Sheska asked her voice gruff with disuse.

            “It was ten in the morning last I looked.”

            “Where are we?”

            “Motel about thirty miles from Central.” He answered as he bent over and scrubbed at his hair.

            “Did you carry me here?”

            She could tell he was smirking when he answered.

            “Yes.”

            Sheska paused, wondering if she should ask the other pressing question on her mind. Should she stick to questions that didn’t possibly anger him...or should she stay quiet? After all, her being quiet never hurt anyone… _namely her!_

            Her inner musing was interrupted by a snicker.

            “The answer to that little question of yours as to how your clothes got the blood removed and made their way onto the dresser? I took them off and cleaned them.”

            Sheska hid her red face beneath the covers surrounded by Envy’s malicious laughter.

            His laughter had faded and his words lost their mortifying sting when she next chanced a look. The thread bare motel towel was back on top of his head, pulled back far enough that only his still amused lips were visible beneath the shadows.

            “You can change what you...look like, right?” Sheska inquired. Envy sat down in the chair baring the door and casually crossed his legs, baring a stretch of flesh from hip to ankle.

            “Ye~s.” he drawled in that deep timbered voice. Sheska looked away, a pale pink staining her cheeks and had to clear her throat before she could speak again.

            “If you can change your form, why did you take a shower? You wouldn’t need—”

            “Just because my appearance is different, doesn’t mean I don’t still have blood, gore and lovely little bit of ick on me.” One side of Envy’s mouth quirked up as he added, “It is kinda _sticky_. So wouldn’t you want the blood of a friend among _other_ _things_ washed off if the chance arrived?”

            Sheska glanced at her wet clothes on the dresser and nodded.

            A relaxed silence passed between them. Envy seemed to be content peeking out the window while he waited for his hair to dry beneath the towel while Sheska dozed. The atmosphere was reassuringly average after such a series of odd events.

            As she drifted further into sleep, Sheska wondered what the outside observer would see if they could see her and Envy. Would they think they were a couple? Run aways? Or perhaps criminals… _which wasn’t too far off_.

            A deep chuckle startled Sheska out of her catnap and her eyes snapped over to see Envy watching her amused.

            “I can see what you’re thinking clear from over here.” He told her with a snort. “You’re such an open book.”

            “Sorry some of us aren’t freaky aliens.” She muttered.

            “I’m not an alien.” Envy growled. “I was born _right here_ _in this country_ close to four hundred years ago.”

            “You’re _how_ old?” Sheska exclaimed almost dropping the blanket around her in shock. He wolf whistled and she quickly jerked the blanket back up.

            “Almost four hundred.” He repeated. “Sorry I can’t give you an exact number, I kind of lost count.”

            Envy could clearly see Sheska wrap her mind around the revelation and wondered how well she’d take other things about himself.

            “How is that even possible?” she whispered and he snickered.

            “I thought you already figured that one out.” Envy chuckled. “I’m not human, I’m a homunculus.”

            “I thought homunculi were soulless dolls? All the books—”

            “ _Are wrong_!” He snapped and Sheska flinched. Envy sighed and added more gently, “Almost all the books about my kind are written by people who have no idea how we’re made or even seen one of us.”

            “That woman on the train, the one with the killer nails, she’s a homunculi too?”

            Envy nodded, “Her name’s Lust.”

            “ _Obviously_.” Sheska replied with a wry laugh that Envy echoed. She looked over at him and said, “I’m Sheska.”

            “I know.”

            “Nicollete told you right?”

            “Yes, but I knew who you were beforehand.” Envy revealed. “I’ve seen you around the base in Central.”

            “Ah.” Sheska said awkwardly. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and spat out her question before she could hesitate, “What’s your name?”

            “Envy” he replied with a smirk.

            “Ri-ght, had to be one of the seven deadly sins.” Sheska muttered with a scowl and told him. “You seem more like a Wrath than Envy.”

            “Wrath is a spiteful little brat who has mommy issues.”

            She could see why Wrath was more deserving of the name— _but still_ …

            “You don’t seem very jealous.”

            Sheska saw Envy drag the towel off from his head at the same moment he shapeshifted into his preferred form.

            “You’ve only known me for a few hours— _and most of it you spent unconscious_.” He snapped rising to his feet. “You really don’t know me well enough to assume _any_ thing.”

            Sheska chose to stay silent and watched as Envy viciously scrubbed the water from his hair. She saw him frown and wondered what brought about that scowl. The look on his face seemed distant, as if he were deep in thought.

            _What is he thinking,_ Sheska asked herself and gently foreign images began to plague her. She knew these visions for what they were and tried fighting the invasion to her mind. But with every struggle, pain viciously assaulted her.

            “Sheska!” a distant voice cried as the world began to blur and the fight slowly left her.

            The vision began…


	5. Chapter 5

            An elderly woman sits in a plush chair before a cheery fire which brings no heat to the cozy room. She has a cup of tea perched on top of a saucer. But the tea nor fire brings any warmth her voice as she speaks to the young man kneeling before her. His head is down and he has not spoken yet, but Sheska knows somewhere deep down the young man is Envy.

            “So you’ve found the child?” she says to him and takes a sip of tea.

            “Yes Master.” Envy replies strangely humble. “Her name is Nicollete Azure.”

            The woman chuckles, “Named after her grandmother, how _lovely_. Perhaps it was her mother’s way of being close to a parent she had never known.”

            Envy’s elderly master takes another sip of tea before inquiring, “So where is our _dearest_ Nicollete?”

            “A hospital just outside EastCity.” Envy responds and hurries to explain, “She took a hatchet to her face, hacked out her eyes and a good chunk of her nose.”

            “She’ll live, correct.” the woman says calmly. Sheska shudders at the eerily dead tone to her voice that speaks of possible suffering if Envy answers incorrectly.

            “Yes Master.” he replies promptly. “She did enough damage to take away her eye sight but little else.”

            “How _little_?” his master’s voice began to have an edge and both Envy and Sheska flinch.

            “The doctors mentioned a strong possibility that she wouldn’t have a sense of smell. There was a lot of blood loss but she reached the hospital in time for that not to be a serious issue.”

            “But her _eye sight_ …”

            “Completely gone.”

            “Then she will become more devoted to me than her mother ever was. I, who took in a blind little girl after her mother and father’s tragic demise at an _abomination’s_ hands.” His master smiles, “This time I will finally have that family’s omniscience power.”

            Envy winces and tells her in a meek and chagrin voice, “She’s been committed.”

            “Oh?” Sheska can tell beneath the cool tone the word was spoken in, Envy’s master is livid… _extremely livid_.

            “ _Dearest_ Nicollete told the doctors _exactly how_ she became blind and a rather attention-grabbing reason why she did it.” he tells her and continues without prompting in a perfect imitation of what the girl sounded like.

            “So I wouldn’t have to see it anymore.”

            The elderly woman bursts into laughter and Envy visibly relaxes. Her amusement is long lived and full of honest bubbly mirth. When finally her pleasure at the little girl’s expense is over, she speaks in tone laced with sinister delight.

            “Well, it appears the girl has begun the game without me. Since she’s made her move, I shall make mine.” his master smiles and motions for him to rise.

            “Have our Pride arrange for her to be transferred to an institution in Central. He can better keep his Ultimate Eye on her that way. Then go introduce yourself to Miss Azure.”

            “Who should I tell her I am?”

            “If she is her mother’s child, you won’t have to say a thing.” His master smiles, “She’ll know who you are already.”

~ ~ ~

 

            Everything was dim and blurry. Distorted shadows of furniture merged with the gloom of the walls. From the bathroom, the sound of water running could be heard once more. Then it suddenly cuts off and Envy stepped out almost exactly like before.

            Only this time, Sheska could determine he was dressed. He wasn’t in a good mood, if his silence was any indication. And he was holding a wash cloth which he immediately placed on her aching brow.

            “What was it this time?” Envy asked quietly. It was almost as if he was trying to be nice, sensing that if he spoke any louder it would make her head hurt more than it already did.

            “You knew her mother.”

            “Oh, you saw _that_.” Envy smiled brightly, yet his eyes remained impassive, “Told you her and I had a history.”

            “You did something to her parents.”

            Sheska heard him sigh and the homunculi’s smile turned sardonic.

            “You’re not going bother denying it, are you?”

            “Kinda pointless lying to a psychic.”

            The stabbing pain in Sheska’s head had reduced to an aching throbbing behind her eyes. She compared it to times she stayed up too late and woke too early. Sheska rubbed at her eyes and sighed.

            “You aren’t going to ask, are you?” Envy said smirking. “You won’t ask why I killed them? When I saw her mother grow up practically before my eyes, you aren’t going to inquire how I could have murdered her and then her husband?”

            Sheska shook her head, recalling the words from her first vision since they seemed so apt and replied, “It’s because you’re an abomination.”

            In the face of those familiar words Envy subtly recoiled, a movement the former librarian sensed rather than saw. Had an outside observer been present, all they would have noticed was an insignificant twitch.

            _That first vision…that was about him. Who called him that…Why would those exact words affect him enough to flinch when nothing else has?_

            “Mindless killing, that’s what I do!” Envy exclaimed viciously bright. But she could tell...

            “I’m not the only person who’s called you that, am I.”

            “Oh no, I hear it all the time. It’s my nickname— Abomination, that’s me!”

            “You hate it.” Information she couldn’t have possibly had known began flooding her mind. No visions, just facts.

            “Abomination is your nickname so to take the sting out of it. You think if you hear it enough times it’ll stop hurting. That the—”

            She was on the cusp of another vision. It lurked at the edges of her mind. Crouched and ready to spring. It would bring enlightenment and pain. Knowledge but suffering. All Sheska had to do was reach out for it. She would know and bear the consequences for her curiosity. _For trespassing on God’s territory_ …

            “ _Stop_.” Envy snapped cutting her words off with a hand to her throat. His fingers twitched dangerously.

            Sheska was wide eyed and quiet at the subtle threat, shaking with fright. Still beneath the blanket she was naked as a babe, defenseless and if Envy chose, he could easily kill her. But in some not unfamiliar way, she knew he wouldn’t. Envy smiled gleefully, sliding his hand away from her neck then leaned close.

            “Your body can’t handle two visions back to back.” he told her casual and jesting despite the gravity of his words. “You’re new at this, take a break.”

            Envy chuckled as he leaned away from her and winked adding, “The shower’s free.”

            Sheska watched him mutely as he sauntered over to the dresser and tossed her clothes to her. Then he went to the door and stood before the chair, his back toward her still. She looked down at the clothing in her lap unmoving.

            “Go take a shower. This’ll probably be your last chance for awhile and it’ll give me time to think of what the heck we’re gonna do now.”

            “You won’t peek?” she asked, her voice sounding rather hoarse to her ears.

            “I’ve seen enough of you naked to last me a lifetime.” he snickered.

            “Likeiaskedyouto _strip me_.” Sheska muttered as she snatched up her clothes.

            She tossed off the covers on the bed, the springs letting out a horrible squeak and quickly climbed from the bed and darted into the bathroom. Sheska slammed the door behind her and Envy fought the urge to burst into laughter.


	6. Chapter 6

            _‘Nicollete Azure, age 17_

_Mother: Unknown_

_Father: Unknown_

            Edward continued to read the blind girl’s file from the institution she spent her life inside. In the bed across from him, Alphonse silently watched and prayed that maybe something inside the sizable folder would reveal a hint as to Sheska’s location.

            There were no records of her birth listed but her transfer papers from eleven years ago came from a hospital in East City. Strangely, those papers bore the signature of the Führer himself.

            The staff never discovered her parents’ names since she refused to tell them and Führer King Bradley revealed even he didn’t know. He only said they were a friend of a friend. _A conveniently deceased friend._

            Her life inside the institution was a series of analogous days. At six am, she would wake and go to the cafeteria to eat breakfast. Breakfast would always be set up the same every day. The main entree would sit in the center, on her left would be the fork or spoon the staff would set out for her, on the right would be toast. Her drink would be placed next to the tray on her left.

            At six forty-five, breakfast would end and the staff would retrieve her things and lead her to the recreation room. There, she would play chess by herself or with another patient until noon when lunch was served.

            Lunch was similar to breakfast in food placement. This time however, there were two sides that came with her meal and they sat side by side on the right section of the tray. After her meal was done, her tray was picked up and she returned to the recreation room.

            At one, it was visitation time. Usually the Führer would come almost at one on the dot. Nicollete was taken by one of the staff to a secure room guarded by two soldiers with only two folding chairs, a table between them and a chess board inside.

            Within the room, the monotonous days and years had some variety. She would ask about his wife and son, he asked about hospital food. She’d ask about work, he’d ask about therapy. The same subjects but different answers each time. Even if some of hers the Führer knew were obviously lies, they continued the trend.

            At two, the Führer left, the game remained untouched and she would see her therapist. After only an hour, she would return with a cheeky smile and the doctor would always request a cigarette break… _or a transfer if the session went too terribly bad_.

            She would sit in front of one of the windows, seemingly watching the going-ons outside until at four she would smirk and the Führer would return.

            More precisely, someone who appeared to be the Führer would come visit.

            She would return to the room and their chess game would begin. One nurse precisely documented one such visit.

            _How’s the job?_ Fine thank you.

            _Getting along with everyone?_ Yes.

            The nurses heard her chuckle and reply, “ _Liar_.”

            Falman’s report included a few interviews with staff and a former patient. The staff had nothing to say that really stuck out. She was friendly, self sufficient to a degree and very intelligent. Things that were already in previous reports.

            It was the former roommate that revealed the most about Nicollete Azure.

            The woman mentioned in her interview that Azure loved when the volunteers from the library would come and read to them. The girl especially looked forward to one particular volunteer coming and was heartbroken when she got fired.

            “That’s it!” Ed exclaimed. “That’s her connection to Sheska!”

            “Whose connection?” Alphonse inquired. His brother held up and pointed to Falman’s report with a vengeance.

            “Sheska used to read to hospital patients when she worked at the library. One of them was this girl Azure.”

            “But Brother, what does this have to do with a homunculus kidnapping her?”

            “Because Nicollette Azure knew them _and_ Sheska.” Ed explained. “If we can find out what those guys wanted with _her_ , we can find out why they have Sheska and where they might be.”

            Ed continued to read the information Falman uncovered. He skipped the doctor notes and psych evaluation. He scanned the list of medications they attempted to give her, noting with a smile the girl’s history of spitting the pills out like peas in a pea shooter.

            He then turned to the top secret military records that Mustang discretely slipped in with data on the dead female.

            _Physical description of homunculi subject: 5’4 to 5’5 inches tall, ouroboros tattoo on upper left leg. Black clothing consisting of sleeveless muscle shirt cutting of at the mid drift, shorts underneath a skirt and black wraps around arms and feet. Long green tinted hair, violet eyes. Gender undetermined._

“They had _Envy_?!” Ed shouted incredulously. “The military found some way of capturing _him_??”

            “How did they do that?” Al asked.

            Ed read further into the report, “Apparently Archer led some men and caught him with Azure’s help. Doesn’t mention her by name or _how_ exactly she helped.”

            “But it’s her, right?”

            Ed grinned, “Oh yeah, it’s her.”

            “So now what, Brother?”

            “We figure out that girl’s connection to Envy.”

~ ~ ~

 

            By the time Sheska stepped out of the bathroom squeaky clean and fresh from her shower, Envy had been pacing for awhile. She sat down on the bed and watched him wear away the drab carpet in front of the window until a faint line appeared beneath his feet.

            “Any idea—” she began to inquire before Envy angrily cut her off.

            “Oh I _got one_!”

            “Care to—?”

            “Once I have a better idea than _this one_!”

            Sheska waited silent and patiently as the homunculi fumed. He growled as he grinded his teeth. A shadow of mixed annoyance, wrath and frustration clouded his face. Then his jaw tightened and unexpectedly Envy cursed aloud.

            “We’re headed to Resembool.”

            “What?” she said startled from his abrupt fierce announcement. Envy threw the drapes aside and glanced out the window.

            “It’s the last place she’d think…” he muttered and swore under his breath again. “If there ever was a place he’d be or go to, it’d be Resembool.”

            “Who, your Master?” Sheska asked and Envy glanced at her as he replaced the curtains. He drew in a sharp breath before letting it out slowly and calmly speaking to her.

            “The Master is a very powerful woman. A woman like you wouldn’t believe. Alchemy without an array, knowledge that spans nearly four centuries, and even the secret of the Philosopher Stone. _However_ —” Envy told then turned and faintly smirked at her. “There’s someone better than her.”

            “And we’re going to see this person?”

            “Yes— _or try to_.” The homunculi scowled. “I’ve tried tracking that— _man_ — down and haven’t ever come close to finding him.”

            “So how are you going to find him now?” Sheska asked and the stormy look on Envy’s face erupted into full volcanic wrath. But before he could rage at her, he paused closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out in a hiss. After a full count of twenty he was calm enough to open his eyes.

            “I’m not.” Envy replied with a shrug. “We’re going to wait for him in Resembool. He’s bound to return sooner or later.”

            “Why?”

            Envy smirked, “Oh I’m sure the _most powerful_ alchemist in the world would _love_ to see his adoring _wife_ and _sons_.”

            Sheska didn’t like the sweetly acid tone he had used. There was something sinister behind that innocent bit of trivia. She just knew it; she could sense it behind his typical merry smile and longed to sate her curiosity. Just then, Envy snickered.

            “I wouldn’t if I were you.”

            “Wouldn’t what?” Sheska asked blinking up at him.

            “Wouldn’t use those newly acquired powers to satisfy an inquisitive streak.” he replied. “But hey, if you enjoy the headaches and passing out, go ahead and do it. It’s not like _I_ care what happens to _you_.”

            Prior to leaving the hotel, the homunculus forced Sheska to roll the comforter up and create a makeshift pack with it tied with scraps of sheets torn from the bed. Logically she carried the large bundle so that Envy could move more quickly and guard her. As it was, Sheska doubted she could defend herself from a common cold.

            For what seemed like hours they journeyed sticking close to the train tracks until Sheska felt she would pass out. She drank nearly all the water they packed well before the nearest town was in sight and they still had further to go.

            Sheska could hardly lift her voice above a whisper as she asked, “Remind me again why we’re not taking a train?”

            “Because we’ll be harder to find.” Envy answered matter-of-fact like. “A train has only so many places to hide.”

            “But I was able to see them coming, we can—”

            “There’s no telling what toll those visions are taking.” he snapped. “Call me crazy but waking from a slight coma with an obvious migraine the size of Drachma doesn’t sound good.”

            Trudging alongside of Envy, Sheska was silent for a moment as she mulled over her situation. Envy was supposed to protect her but when he spoke his tone was either emotionless, angry or chilling. He said he didn’t care about her…but the homunculi kept discouraging her from using her new powers because of what it did to her.

            “So if he doesn’t care, why is he protecting me?” Sheska asked aloud, her steps beginning to falter.

            “Because she told me to.” Envy answered grabbing a hold of her arm and began pulling her alongside him. It took Sheska a moment to realize she spoke her question out loud and he had answered her.

            “Nicollete did?” she asked and he nodded. “Why?”

            Sheska saw his face close down and the grip on her arm tightened. She didn’t need a psychic vision to know Envy wouldn’t answer her this time.

            “Nevermind.” she sighed. “Would it be alright if I asked what your history with her was?”

            The tight grip on her arm loosened and the homunculus shrugged.

            “I already told you, my master raised her mother. Then I killed her and her husband. That’s it.”

            “You were the first homunculi Nicollete met in person weren’t you.” she asked. “When you took her to the hospital after she blinded herself.”

            He smirked, “Yes, that too.”

            Sheska frowned, “I don’t understand how she could have considered her parents’ murderer a friend. It has to go beyond you simply taking her to the hospital.”

            “Heh,  I think we were friends because of chess.” Envy actually smiled in memory. “I taught her mother how to play and she in turn taught her daughter how to play.”

            He frowned and said faintly, “I was sad when she ran away. I lost my playmate.”

            Sheska stared at him wordlessly, stunned by his candid admission. She was torn between saying something to take away the haunted look in his eyes and saying nothing thus leaving the spell of recollection unbroken.

            _What to do?_

            “But you got to play chess with Nicollete, right?” Sheska finally said and Envy smirked.

            “Every day until _she_ ran away.”

            She didn’t know what to say to that. Sheska had the urge to tell him something akin to she was sure there was a good reason. But the fact remained, the girl _had_ run away.

            _Just like everyone else,_ something whispered to her.

            “Envy?”

            “Yeah?”

            “Would it be alright to ask how you know the man in Resembool?” Sheska asked and she saw his lips thin with anger.

            “Nevermind.” 


	7. Chapter 7

            _“You’re cheating.” he snapped after losing his third straight game. The little girl across the glossy table from him giggled._

_“’M not cheating. Your strategy is simply **that** obvious.”_

_“You were too cheating!” he stuck his tongue at the dark haired girl and she returned the gesture. “Half the time you were using your powers and I know it.”_

_“Prove it.”_

_He smirked and motioned to the book in her lap, “You never took your eyes off that cookbook.”_

_The girl with fawned colored eyes gave Envy a cute pout. She daintily ran her hands down her navy dress, smoothing the pleats in the skirt before responding._

_“I could see the board **and** your obvious moves using my peripheral vision.”_

_“You were using your **other** vision, just admit it.”_

_“I admit nothing.”_ _she replied haughtily._

~ ~ ~

 

            “Stupid weak human!”

~ ~ ~

 

_“I’m ho~me.” The girl cried as she walked into her home. Between moments, her appearance had transformed into an attractive young lady. One that looked around then turned back and motioned to someone outside the door._

_“Come inside, quick.” she whispered and pulled an attractive blond man inside. With a giggle she closed the door behind her and quickly pulled the boy along with her. Sheska knew without a doubt this was a vision she was experiencing…but could recall the moment it began._

_“Hurry, he’s coming.”_

_Just the moment she had managed to reach her room and hide away her boyfriend, Envy turned the corner. The teenager smiled sweetly and held the door closed._

_“Home somewhat late.” he pointed out and her smile turned sweeter. “I know that look.”_

_“What look? I see no look, there is no look.”_

_His lips puckered with annoyance, “Young lady.”_

_“Envy.” she replied brightly and the homunculi took a breath, immediately catching the foreign scent in the air._

_His gaze turned sharp, “Who’s in your room.”_

_“You smell something? Must be from outside. Yes yes, outside where there is many people and none here.” she stammered becoming increasingly uneasy under his scrutiny. “People who I’ve never met and never been around and_ _-_ _”_

_“Christ’s sake, you’ve been in town?” he roared. “Do you know_ _-_ _?”_

_At the hard and devious expression that suddenly appeared on her face, Envy knew she knew and knew everything. Not just about her own past but also **his**._

_“Mouth closed, my little secret safe and I’ll tell you about a lovely place you want to visit.”_

_It was then that the real game between them began. Their pawns were the secrets and information they were willing to sacrifice. And their king was the one secret they’d die to keep._

~ ~ ~

 

Sheska awoke sputtering. With a laugh, Envy dunked her head under the fountain again. She screamed as the cold water hit her warm neck and thrashed in the homunculi’s arms.

            When she came up with water spilling from her hair, the woman realized she was in the middle of a town square. The town’s people had gathered to watch the spectacle of the two of them splashing around the structure before going back to their business. By the time Envy climbed out with Sheska still in his arms, most had already dispersed.

            “Note to self: four eyed, homely ex librarians get heat stroke easily.” he told her as he lowered her to her feet. She nearly went down when her knees buckled but Envy held onto her until she was able to stand on her own.

            “When I’m feeling better remind me to hit you.” she muttered and he snickered.

            “So where are we?” Sheska inquired.

            “Some rinky dink place.” Envy answered leaning against the fountain’s edge. “The place can barely be called a town and the only thing it has going for it is the fountain.”

            “Does it have food?”

            The homunculi shrugged, “Does crappy army rations count?”

            “Must be where they come from.” Sheska muttered wringing out the hem of her shirt and Envy chuckled.

            “You have any money on you?” she asked and Envy’s smirk was answer enough. Sheska threw her arms up to the heavens, sloshing water from her sleeves into the homunculi’s face. “Of course you don’t. Why must aliens wear skirts and skin tight things that don’t enable them to carry wallets?”

            Sheska began storming off toward what she hoped was a restaurant or store that sold what passed as food. Envy followed her with a grin.

            “It’s a skort and I’m not an alien.” he corrected. “And for your information I dress this way to throw opponents off.”

            “How does _cross dressing_ throw people off?”

            “How long did it take you to realize I was a guy?”

            Sheska thought for a moment. She wagered she realized for certain he was male when they were in the hotel. The moment he stepped out of the shower even before she heard him speak. When she did hear him, Sheska was positive she was naked in a room with a guy with one dead sexy voice.

            _No no, that voice was not sexy!_ She told herself as her cheeks turned pink. _And neither is his body and I’m not interested in seeing if everything else matches!_

            “In the hotel when you came out of the shower.” Sheska replied, hoping the tremor she heard in her voice was just her imagination. “The way you had the towel around you…uh-h, girls don’t do that.”

            Envy smirked and she rushed onward with her words.

            “But what does that have to do with you _dressing in drag_!?”

            “It’s a distraction.” He replied. “Most men have a thing about fighting girls and if you didn’t know better, you’d think I was one.”

            “You look like a transvestite palm tree.”

            “Shut up.”

            “You look ridiculous.”

            “That’s the plan.” Envy said with an out of place jovial grin. “Most humans don’t take outrageous people seriously. Everyone thinks they’re idiots until they suddenly find a knife at their throat.”

            “I can understand your logic, but why chose to have green hair.” Sheska asked as she searched the area. She spotted a building with sign that said _General Store_ on the front and began walking towards it.

            “Why not cotton candy pink or purple?” she said and heard Envy laugh behind her. There was something warm and enchanting in his humor. It took the edge off of the subtle danger she knew they were both in.

            “Because I’m green with envy!” he replied matter-of-fact like with a grin. Sheska paused and then brought her hand up to stifle her giggles. Envy came up beside of her and draped a companionable arm around her shoulders.

            Amusement flickered in the eyes that met hers.

            “You’re kidding right?”

            “Not really.” He replied and Sheska laughed.


	8. Chapter 8

            The store didn’t take money from Amestris due to the fact the store owner had a long held grudge against the army. Instead of money he bartered for his goods, an arrangement that sat well with the townspeople but not Sheska, who had little to nothing of valuable.

            “I’m hungry.” Sheska muttered sitting on the edge of the fountain an hour later. Beside her, Envy rolled his eyes.

            “I don’t care if it’s dehydrated vegetable medley or steak...”

            “They’ll taste like sand you know.”

            “…I need food.” She said as if Envy hadn’t spoken.

            “You can eat sand, it won’t kill you.”

            “What can I barter?” Sheska asked herself. “My shoes?”

            “You need them.”

            “Maybe I can get some money doing psychic readings.”

            “Oh yeah, _advertise_ our location why don’t you.” Envy muttered. “It’s not like we’re _on the run_.”

            “I wonder if anyone would be interested in a night with an alien?”

            “Hey! Don’t even _think_ about pimping me out for a burger.” He cried. “And for the last time, I’m _not an alien_.”

            “Su~re.” she replied in a resigned monotone. “You can just switch your form to anything you want and it’s _perfectly_ normal.”

            “Oh like your extrasensory predictions are common.”

            “This is all _your_ fault!” Sheska cried. “If you had thought ahead, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

            “I wasn’t the one who got a certain psychic shot by mindlessly running off.” Envy began madly pacing in front of her, a sure sign of his agitation.

            “What normal person would stick around after seeing what I saw?” she exclaimed mindless of the curious people that began gathering around them.

            “A guy effortlessly busting thick chains inside a military lab? _Oh yeah_ I’m going to be hanging around after _that_!”

            “You seemed to handle the whole issue involving that hooker on the train well enough.” Envy retorted with a grin. He stopped pacing as he noticed the crowd.

            “I fainted!”

            “You seem to do that a lot.”

            “I do not!”

            “You fainted when Nicollete died.” He countered. “I had to carry you afterwards which gave you the perfect opportunity to check out my ass.”

            Their audience laughed as Sheska’s face turned beet red and she jumped to her feet to her defense.

            “I was not staring at your butt!”

            “Why? Not good enough.”

            “No!” Sheska exclaimed. “Your butt is very nice, heck _extremely_ nice.”

            “ _Really_!” Envy replied with a delighted smile and Sheska realized too late she’d been had when the group laughed. Something clicked in his mind and an ingenious plan began to form.

            “Thank you!” he announced bowing before the people. “Our next performance will be staged around the General Store in thirty minutes! Come see!”

            As the crowd dispersed, Envy grabbed Sheska arm and drug her back to the General Store.

            “You want food?” he asked her. “I got a _fantastic_ idea how to go about it.”

            “It doesn’t involve me humiliating myself again, does it?”

            His lips twisted into a grin that sent shudders down her spine for all the wrong reasons. The only thing that kept her from running away at that moment was the arm Envy wrapped around her waist.

            “We’ll see.”

            Sheska saw him present his idea to the store owner and strangely enough, he loved it. In exchange for food, Envy would gather citizens that would buy his goods. Thirty minutes later, people began trickling in.

            “I hope you can pull this off.” Sheska said, munching on a loaf of bread and he winked at her.

            “Who doesn’t want to watch a clown?” he turned and addressed the crowd. “Ladies, gentlemen and those who like me, prefer not to disclose! Welcome to…”

            She could see the homunculi struggling with a name and Sheska shouted out the first thing that came to her.

            “Green with Envy!”

              “What did I tell you about _advertising_ our location.” He growled out the side of his mouth. He continued brightly as if he hadn’t been interrupted or faltered in the least.

            “Green with Envy voice impersonations. Hear people say lines you’ll never hear them say themselves! All that is needed is for me to hear their voice _just once_ and let the laughter begin. Listen to Führer Bradley demands his woobie and a bottle. Hear friends and family say things they would never say aloud.”

            “This is never going to work.” Sheska said as the crowd began whispering amongst themselves.

            “Shut up and eat your bread.” Envy replied in a perfect imitation of her. More people began to gather and were equally delighted by his demonstration.

            “Do you know any famous military officers’ voices?” someone exclaimed in the back.

            “This technique of impersonations has been passed down in the Armstrong line for generations!” Envy said in Alex Armstrong’s blustering voice suppressing a chuckle. Sheska did a double take as the crowd roared with laughter. Apparently the Strong Arm Alchemist’s speeches were well known even in this small town.

            “Do Bradley’s voice!”

            “My fellow Amestrians, I am secretly a pirate.” Envy replied using the Führer’s voice. “ _Arr_ someone help me, I dropped me anchor on me foot!”

            The crowd began shouting out requests and Envy gleefully performed each. Roy Mustang. The Crimson alchemist. He even did the general store owner’s voice as he sold the audience drinks and popcorn during the performance.

            The atmosphere was pleasant and filled with laughter. Sheska was amazed at the Envy’s finesse. He went from one voice to another, smoothly riding one request to another. He was a born performer.

            “Edward Elric! Do his.”

            “Fullmetal?” Envy asked, his lips spreading into a demonic wide grin. Sheska feared the insane gleam that appeared in his eyes.

            “You want me to do his voice? _Are you sure?_ ”

            “Do it!” everyone cried.

            If it were possible, Envy’s grin grew even wider, nearly spreading ear to ear. He slowly took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

            “WHO ARE YOU CALLING A MOUSY LITTLE PIPSQUEAK?!” the homunculi screamed at the top of his lungs, his arms waving madly. The crowd was silent. Even Sheska was quiet, and frozen at attention. Then silence was broken by a cheer.

            “That’s him! Even the body language is him!” someone exclaimed and Envy bowed with a smirk.

            “Want another?” the creature asked mildly. “Or would you like to hear the Fullmetal Pipsqueak say something he’d never say.”

            “Yeah!”

            “So what completely off the wall thing should Ed say?” Envy asked the crowd.

            “Something nice about his C.O.!” someone shouted and he threw back his head and let out a great peal of laughter.

            “Oh you’re cruel…” Envy chuckled. “ _I like it_.” He seemed to think for a moment before speaking in Edward’s voice once more.

            “Roy Mustang is dead sexy”

            He paused waiting for the crowd to calm before adding “… _in a miniskirt_.”

            Even Sheska had to laugh. It was a double jab at two of the most notable alchemist in the country. The picture Envy presented was amusing enough but adding the colonel’s fixation on changing the female officer’s uniform to miniskirts and use of Edward’s voice was too much.

            After an hour the store owner was pleased with the crowd and rewarded the entertaining duo with more goods from his store. They received jerky, multiple cans of beans and bread were wrapped and bundled inside a backpack alongside a knife and a flint. Along with everything else, the owner gave them a proper sleeping bag after seeing what they had with them.

            “You two skinny things be careful.” The man told the two before they left. “Nights get cold on the road.”

            The homunculi gave him an amused grin, “Trust me, this skinny thing can find ways to get warm.”

            The store owner laughed and gave Envy a wink, “I’m certain you can.”

            “You better not be thinking what I think you are.” Sheska muttered as they headed off. “There’s absolutely _no_ way.”

            “Why not?” Envy inquired with a brief quirk of his lips. “After all, you think my ass is _extremely_ nice.”

            “Trannie clown.” She muttered ducking her head to hide her blush. She heard him laugh.

            “Careful, keep calling me names and I won’t share my nice warm bear fur with you.”

            “I’d rather freeze.”

            Sheska heard Envy actually giggle.


	9. Chapter 9

            “And so the princess and the prince live happily ever after.” Sheska reads and everyone politely claps, except for one girl in the back who cheers loudly.

            “Yay! They found one another.” She cries. “I had a feeling they would but for a moment it looked like it wouldn’t happen.”

            “Well, it’s a fairytale.” Sheska tells the blond girl looking so out of place with a blindfold over her eyes. “In them, the prince always saves the princess, the evil witch dies and everyone lives happily ever after.”

            “Do you think they can be real?”

            “What do you mean?” Sheska is frowning now. The girl’s eyes seem to be watching her eagerly behind the scrap of red cloth.

            “Fairytales.” she asked. “Do you think that somewhere there’s a grand adventure out there waiting for you?”

            Sheska shakes her head, “No, I’m happy enough with the adventures my books can bring me.”

            “You never wanted to save a prince from a curse? Or save a kingdom from the clutches of an evil witch?”

            “That’s what fairytales are for.”

            The world around Sheska darkens and she hears crying. Mournful crying laced with sorrow and angst. A sound filled with pain and misery. The young woman looks around, searching for the source, listening inside the darkness.

            “Why?” she hears a man whisper. “Why did he have to die?”

            She takes a step and feels something squish under her feet. The crying continues and the question is repeated. Someone cackles from within the shadows and chills run down her spine.

            Something isn’t right, Sheska realizes and feels something brush against her skin. Goosebumps rise up and she hears cries and laughter merge.

            “Why did he have to die?” the man asks once more

            “Because this is how it begins!” the voice of the blindfolded girl maliciously answers.

         Sheska jerked awake, gasping for breath. The cool night sky is spread out above her head, the stars like tiny holes microscopic moths have eaten through an indigo blanket.

            Despite the campfire at her side had long since died and turned to blackened embers, Sheska finds she’s oddly warm. She exhales loudly, her heart beat slowing and buries her face in the soft fur beneath her.

            _Wait…fur??_

She hears a rumble underneath her and goes to launch herself away from whatever she is laying on when a large black paw wrapped itself around her. Sheska smothered a whimper at the sight of large claws inches from face.

            “Go to sleep, Miss Homely ex-librarian.” Came Envy’s voice clearly from the mouth of the animal. She sees a recognizable flash of light off to her right and a slender arm pulls the sleeping bag up around her.

            Flushed with anger, Sheska slapped the thick side of the bear and he lets out a quiet _ooof_. She smacked him again when the homunculus had the gall to begin laughing.

            “You couldn’t even tell the difference between me and a real bear.” Envy told her. “Some psychic you are.”

            “I was _asleep_!”

            “Liar, you were making noises.”

            “I was dreaming.” Sheska argued. Envy shifted his form, the transmutation tickling her skin. She shivered at the sharp appraisal in his eyes.

            “What was it about?”

            “A-a memory of when Nicollete and I met.” She stammered. Sheska could feel his relentless eyes boring into her as she looked away.

            “That day I read from a book of fairytales and she asked me if I ever wanted to live in one. I told her that reading a fairytale was the closest anyone could get.”

            “But then it changed.” She told him with a frown. “Everything went dark and I heard a man grieving. He asked why _he_ had to die and _she_ answered him.”

            “Nicollete.”

            “She said it was how it began.” Sheska looked back at Envy and shuddered, the sleeping bag slipping off her shoulders. “Was that even a vision? It didn’t feel like one.”

            An expression of smug clarity showed in the homunculi’s eyes. He shifted and wrapped the sleeping bag back around her.

            “It was a vision.” Envy told her confidently. “But of the past. _She_ had a few vague ones about the past.”

            “What could it all mean?”

            “Try to figure it out.”

            Sheska saw the hint of a smirk quirk one side of his mouth and she fought the urge to hit him again. He let her get away with it once but no doubt wouldn’t allow a second time.

            “How it begins. Someone’s death. The first time we met. Fairytales. A cursed prince.”

            When she heard Envy snort, Sheska knew she was on the right track.

            _A cursed prince’s death is how a fairytale begins? No that’s not right, that’s too clear of a vision._ She frowned and tried taking out the obscure references.

            _The death or loss of someone is how it starts? What is it that begins? Maybe it’s her words that are important. A grand adventure for me about saving a place from an… **wait**._

            “An evil witch with a kingdom in her clutches.  A powerful woman I couldn’t imagine. Hiding from the military, who are…”

            Sheska was coming to a horrible conclusion and a delightfully wicked gleam appeared in Envy’s eyes.

            “And I was beginning to have doubts.” He cooed. “Imagine that, a few offhand comments and an ambiguous prophetic dream and you figured that part out.”

            “Is the military… under your Master’s control?” she silently urged Envy to deny it and felt her stomach plunge when he gave her a gleeful smile.

            “For the most part.”

            “Most..ly?”

            He happily nodded, “Ever wonder what’s under the Führer’s eye patch?”

            _An Ultimate Eye,_ something whispered. It reached out to her, promising answers. Sheska felt a stab of pain and she forced that Pandora’s Box closed. She couldn’t afford the time she’d lose recovering.

            “No, I never did wonder.” She whispered. “I never wanted a grand adventure outside the pages of a book.”

            “But books can’t get your heart pounding.” Envy pointed out. “No book no matter how well written can replace the real thing.”

            “Adventures can get someone like me killed.” Sheska retorted and Envy’s expression grew serious.

            “I won’t let anything happen to you.” he swore and suddenly she was overcome with a sense of déjà vu.

_Oh yeah, she told me the same thing before Envy and I met. It was her promise to me,_ Sheska realized. _And she made one to him._

            “You just want to be shown where _he_ is”

            Envy’s eyes subtly widened. Sheska wondered what she might have said to receive such a reaction when shock swiftly yielded to fury. A sudden chill hung on the edge of his words.

            “And what do you mean by _him_?”

            “I-I saw…a vision…after I passed out.” She stammered. “You promised her to protect me so I could carry on a promise. The one she was sorry about not keeping.”

            Sheska gulped and he snorted relaxing as he shook his head.

            “And funny enough, you’re doing that.”

            As he shifted beneath her, she became aware of just how intimate their positions were. Her chest pressed to his, one of his legs trapped between her own. A rush of pink stained her cheeks.

            “Oh dear,” cooed Envy. “Don’t tell me it took Miss unemployed spinster with no social life this long to realize exactly _where_ she’s laying?”

            “My _name_ is _Sheska_ , Mr weird cross dressing _alien_ with a green fetish.”

            “Touché.” The homunculus replied with delight and then innocently cocked his head, “So _Sheska,_ going to get out of my lap anytime soon?”

            He gave her a devilish grin, “Or did you want to sit there and talk about the first thing that pops up?”

            Sheska promptly scrambled away from him landing in a heap, hopelessly tangled in the sleeping bag. Envy laughed at the pathetic sight she made.

            “Get back over here.” He told her morphing back into the form of a bear. He rolled onto his back and patted his belly. “You’ll end up freezing.”

            Sheska struggled within the sleeping bag which seemed to amuse him further. When she began helplessly rocking around on the ground, Envy threw back his muzzle and let out a great peal of laughter.

            It was deep timbered, kin to the voice she heard before in the hotel. She had a feeling that the smoldering voice that promised steamy erotic nights was his actual voice. One that he didn’t use often and was only revealed by a rare occasional slip.

            “Are you _stuck_?” Envy purred, his dark honeyed voice sending shivers down Sheska’s spine. She struggled ineffectively against the cloth prison before letting out a defeated noise.

            He chuckled as he rolled, slid a large paw underneath her and pulled her up on his chest as he rolled onto his back. There was a brief flash and a human arm rearranged the sleeping bag.

            A companionable silence passed between them. Sheska, warm lying on top of Envy’s soft bear fur. Envy, relaxed but standing guard as he stared up at the starry sky. Moments passed and Sheska was about to fall back asleep when Envy quietly spoke.

            “I can see why she liked you. Easily teased, quick wit but stupidly innocent.”

            Envy snorted and his voice shifted back to the more feminine one, “With how much she talked about you, I wouldn’t be surprised if she was trying to fix us up.”

            “Wouldn’t date you if y’were the last male on the planet.” Sheska slurred and she felt her soft bed begin to shake in silent laughter.

            “Four eyed, frumpy egghead.”

            “Transvestite alien.”

            Sheska drifted off into dreams listening to Envy chuckle.


	10. Chapter 10

            As living armor went when Alphonse Elric wished to be quiet, he could be surprisingly quiet. So when he happened to notice his brother had fallen asleep reading a report about an unusually damaged train car, Al quietly picked up his older brother and tucked him into bed.

            But he still wasn’t silent enough to not wake Edward as he clanked back to the desk full of reports.

            “Al?”

            “Go back to sleep, Brother.” He told him. “I’ll tell you what I find out in the morning.”

            Ed pulled out the tie at the end of his braid and rolled over. He quickly settled and was inaudibly snoring within minutes.

            “Sometimes I wonder how you can go to sleep that fast.” Al said fondly before turning back to the report.

            _Train car B 112 suffered damaged to left side door. The edges were cleanly cut and pieces were scattered from three to five miles outside of Central. Blood was also found inside the car near the damage edge but no persons were found inside or along the path of debris._

_Also inside the car were two puncture marks. One by the door that led to the passenger cars and another near the blood stains on the floor. The weapon used for these two marks determined by the size and shape is estimated to be a pickax._

Al looked at the pictures of the gouges in the floor and the door and immediately recognized them. More precisely _who_ made them.

            _It was that homunculus, the one called Lust._ Al wondered. _What was she doing on that train?_ _Whose blood is that?_

Al quickly flipped to another report and began reading.

            _Analysis of blood sample: It is my opinion that the sample (71280-B) is not blood but a degraded alchemic amplifying agent. Sample coincides with a sample of material taken from the captured homunculi subject._

“It doesn’t make any sense.” Al asked himself. “Why would Lust injure Envy? They’re on the same side.”

            _Unless it had something to do with Sheska_ , he realized. _Envy and Sheska were last seen together and this so-called blood is from him._

            Al frantically flipped back to the previous report and checked with the details on the train car. He was relieved to note that there was no account of any human blood seen anywhere.

            “So Envy escaped with Sheska and was traveling in the train car when Lust attacked. But only Envy was injured and…what could’ve happened next? No one was seen where the remains of the car were. If Sheska fell out the hole then she would have —”.”

            “Envy prolly kicked Lust out.” Edward muttered in his sleep. “Jerk’s tough enough to take anyone on.”

            _It does add up,_ Al realized. He shuffled through the paperwork until he found a invoice and matched the train car to the train, then compared it to the station’s schedule. He found the train in question was headed east.

            _But what doesn’t add up is, why would Lust attack Envy? Could it be_ — _she wanted Sheska?_

He turned back to the notes his brother made about the girl who start it all. One Nicollete Azure.

 

* * *

_Lying on reclined in the bed, she looks small in the pale blue hospital gown. Her skin pale as the white bandages around her face and eyes. I_ _ntravenous lines pouring life saving fluids into her thin arms._

_“Hello.” She greets him in a voice roughened by pain and drugs. He steps inside the room and places the bundle of flowers he bought inside a cup beside her bed. He ignores the restrains around her wrists and fusses with his spur of the moment inpulse buy._

_“Thank you for the flowers.” She tells him. Envy pauses and looks over at her and she continues with a quiet laugh, “I can taste their scent.”_

_“Ah.”_

_“But I know they’re pink daisies.”_

_Envy attempts not to do a double take over the revelation and she laughs again. He studies her for a moment as he gains his bearings._

_Her hair is a dark blond, almost brown in color cut boyishly short. Not at all long and dark like her mother’s. She is slender, almost lean in build, her skin ghostly white. Not like her mother at the same age at all. An apprehensive wave courses through him._

_He can’t find a piece of her left to him._

_“Would you like to play chess?”_

_Startled and caught off guard by her question, he can only stand there staring at her tongue-tied. Chess? She plays chess? Just like_ — _?_

_“I promise not to cheat_ — **_much_** _.”, she says this with a smile much reminiciant of her mother and Envy too smiles._

_“Okay.”_

_They play with pink petals. His pieces have slices missing from the tips while hers are left untouched and after an hour, Envy is stunned. Not because she’s able to play the game blind but because he recognizes her moves. Seven years ago before she ran away, her mother and him played this exact game._

_He’s delighted to finally to able to complete their unfinished game._

_“Checkmate.” Nicollete calls out an hour later Envy looks and sure enough, even without touching any of the pieces, she knows their layout and won._

_“You cheated.” He retorts good humorly and she giggles._

_“_ _Your strategy really was that obvious.” She tells him. “I just had to play it the way I learned.”_

_“You were cheating” he stuck his tongue at the blind girl and she returns the gesture to his satisfaction._

_“Prove it.” She replies and Envy laughs, his heart at ease. The little girl cocks her head to the side. “Ah, I understand.”_

_“Hm?”_

_“Mommy and I had the same color of eyes.” She smirks. “She wanted you to have some small thing of her so she taught me chess. Mommy knew you’d come see me… Envy.”_

_His face fell, “So you—”_

_“Before mommy and daddy left, she told me she wanted me to meet someone special and this was the path leading to that. Mommy didn’t have any regrets and now I know why.” Nicollete’s sigh is heavy and the sound strange coming from one so young._

_“She knew she was going to die, she was aware her powers would transfer to me upon her death as her mother’s did before to her. And the reason she never told me about this power was I was fated to blind myself. It was something necessary.”_

_“Necessary for what?” Envy asks and she giggles._

_“It’s a surprise.”_

_He smirks, “Can’t you give me a hint.”_

_“No.”_

_“Not even a little one?”_

_“You’re a mean little murderer.” she replied sweetly and he scowled._


	11. Chapter 11

            Sheska awoke with a gasp. Dawn had risen, pink clouds fanned the skies. Beside her, the campfire blazed. The first thing she noticed was the pack full of their supplies was missing. As she sat up Sheska realized for the first time in twenty-four hours, she was alone.

            _Something’s not right_ , something whispered inside her.

            It was quiet, almost as if a predator were on the hunt. Crickets no longer chirped when they should still be out. Birds should have been singing their morning song in the nearby forest. Even the wind was still, holding its breath as in anticipation.

            A twig snapped somewhere close by and Sheska’s eyes dashed toward the noise.

            There standing not too far away was a round little man. He stuck a pudgy finger in his mouth and smiled at her, his small eyes aglow. But something instinctual told Sheska to stay very still. _Stay still and he won’t eat me_.

            “Found her!” he called out in a childish voice. From within the woods slinked the woman from the train. _Lust_.

            “Good job, Gluttony.” She said her voice simmering with dark promise. Lust smiled as she spoke to Sheska, “It’s been awhile.”

            The homely girl tried to show no surprise as she twisted out of the sleeping bag and scrambled to her feet.

            “So, you’re back for more?” Sheska told her, proud at the fact her voice hardly shook. “You know Envy’ll be here any moment.”

            “Good.” Lust purred. “That means we won’t have to wait around to take care of _him_.”

            “Lust, can I eat her?” Gluttony rasped inching toward Sheska. The former librarian took a horrified step backwards and Lust chuckled.

            “No, the master wants her in one piece.” The female homunculi purred. “Perhaps Envy. The master _did_ mention punishment.”

            The smile that spread across the obese man’s face was chilling and he took another disturbing step towards Sheska. The young woman’s eyes darted around the clearing and she began to shake as fearful images built in her mind.

            _They’re going to take me to their mother ship and dissect me. Cut open my skull and poke at my brain!_

            With Gluttony lumbering at her side, Lust sauntered toward the woman as horrifying thought after another passed across the mortal’s face.

            _Wait, they don’t have a mother ship,_ Sheska realized. _I’m not going to die. These two are just like Envy and he’s from Amestris. He says their master just wants my ability._

            But the demonic grin on Gluttony’s face stripped away some of the conviction she mustered.

            _Where’s Envy?_ Sheska wondered backing away another step. _He promised to protect me. He said he’d keep me safe. He swore that nothing would happen to me!_

            Closer the two homunculi came and fear finally buckled the human girl’s knees. With her head bowed in defeat, Sheska began to cry.

            This was where the adventure ended. There would be no prince to come to the rescue, the princess would die, and the evil queen would triumph. There would be no happily ever after for her.

            “Where are you?” Sheska whispered.

            “ _Incoming!_ ” screamed a familiar voice and something round landed between her and the homunculi.

            Before she could lift her head up, a black blur slammed into her torso and she suddenly found herself in motion. Coughing she looked back, further away than she figured in the instant that had passed and saw Lust and Gluttony surrounded by a massive ebony cloud. In the ever widening distance, Sheska could hear buzzing.

            “This is becoming a habit of yours.”

            Sheska glanced up and saw Envy smirking as he ran with her over his shoulder.

            _He saved me!_

            Breathless she began putting together the pieces of her frenzied escape. Envy had used a bee hive as a makeshift grenade. He had to have been already in motion when he threw the object, giving her only an instant to be aware of his actions. He didn’t have enough time to stop and carry her to safety so instead tackled her, using the momentum to bring her up into his arms.

            “Enjoying the view?” he asked and she unconsciously glanced down at his backside.

            “Could be worse.” She wheezed. “Could be the inside of a stomach.”

            Envy chuckled and patted her consolingly on the back of her knees where his arm rested. He took her far from the clearing where he had left their pack of things and to her delight, placed her back on her own two feet.

            “How are you?” Envy asked as he slung on the bag. “Break any ribs or get stung by bees?”

            “I feel like crap.” She groaned wrapping her arms around her middle. “I didn’t get stung and I doubt I have anything broken.”

            Envy motioned to her, “Come here, let me see.”

            Sheska thought about it for a moment and her heart rate sky rocked. He would have to have her lift her shirt up and touch her. Sure he’d already seen her completely nude and this was no where close to the same situation. But she wasn’t conscious when Envy removed her clothing. This time she was fully aware.

            “No.”

            “Get over here, Sheska!” He snapped. “If you have broken rib, it’ll slow us down and I _am not_ carrying you all the way to Resembool. Now get your ass over here!”

            She quickly scuttled to his side and he angrily flipped her shirt over her head.

            Surprisingly, despite the rage he displayed seconds ago, Envy was gentle in his examination. His fingertips were cool against her flesh and it made the ache there almost vanish. He pressed more firmly against the muscles of her abdomen and Sheska let out a hiss of pain. Envy stopped immediately and pushed less firmly in another sore spot.

            “How many times have you done this?” Sheska asked in attempt to dispel the uncomfortable silence. Envy paused long enough to jerk down the shirt over her face.

            “What?” he asked as he concentrated on probing her ribs and abdomen, a look of concentration in his eyes.

            “You seem like you’ve done this before.”

            “It’s my first time.” Envy responded with distracted smile. “But I know enough of the human body to be able to tell if you have anything broken.”

            “How did you learn about human biology? Were you taught by one of histories greats or attend lectures or—”

            Envy firmly cut her off.

            “I’m an assassin.”

            “Oh.” Sheska meekly said, the pink on her cheeks darkening. “It’s pretty logical if you think about it. Kill enough people and you learn how the body works and — _dies_.”

            “Let’s change the subject.”

            “Okay, um —hobbies!”

            She noticed one side of Envy’s mouth turn up.

            “What about hobbies?”

            “Do you have any?”

            He snickered, “Other than appearing to feel up nerdy psychics?”

            Before she could stop herself, Sheska went to smack him but he blocked the swing with his arm. She saw he was grinning so she figured he wasn’t too offended.

            “You’re very secretive.” She told him. “Do you have some paranoid fear that if anyone knows just a little about you that the world’ll blow up?”

            “Herbalism.” Envy said with a smirk. When Sheska looked confused he explained himself.

            “My hobby is herbs. The master has a wide variety of books and an interest in herbal medicine. A few centuries back, I got bored so I read a few of her books on the subject and I’ve been hooked since.”

            “I wouldn’t have pegged you for a plant nerd.” Sheska said and Envy shot her a disturbingly cheery grin.

            “And I wouldn’t have pegged you for someone who could handle the last twenty-four hours very well.”

            “You mean not going insane from being chased by a group of super nonhumans who plan on taking me to their immortal master over some psychic powers?” Sheska replied as Envy let her shirt slide back down. She shrugged, “Sounds like an average day to some of my friends.”

            Envy laughed, “You forgot the part where you’re being dragged to some back water town by another one of those ‘super nonhumans’. Anyway, you’re fine.”

            “No broken bones?”

            “With how hard I hit you, I’m actually surprised.” He playfully ruffled her hair, “Maybe you unconsciously used your powers and protected yourself.”

            “My head doesn’t hurt.” Sheska informed him. “Maybe it was just a temporary thing like when you buy new shoes. At first it hurts but after you break them in—”

            “So you have a shoe brain?” Envy replied before he could stop himself. Upon being the subject of a furious look he laughed, “Wanna to see if your theory is sound?”

            Sheska closed her eyes and sought that new part of herself. The piece that gave her whispered answers in times of crisis. Visions of the past and future. That mechanism that brought so much strife.

            She could almost see inside her mind an eye begin to open in the darkness. An eye that viewed the world’s creation and its inevitable end. A witness to every human’s birth, each breath they take and their final gasp of life. The eye fully opened and inside it laid the wisdom she sought.

_The thing he hates the most is the fact she can so acutely vex him. He asks her a simple question and receives a coy grin instead of answers._

_“A lady from the library was here today. But not the usual chick, this one was new. I liked her.”_

_Or she would tell him trivial thing about her time in the hospital. That was another thing he hated about her. In fact, at times Envy could not find much he liked about the teenager._

_“Is Lior the place the stone will be made?” he asks her with a resigned sigh. Or not so much as the case may be. She smiles coyly back at him before answering._

_“She chose a fairytale. It was about an evil witch that stole a princess and the handsome prince that saved her. The princess that is, because it would be funny if he saved the witch.”_

_“ **Lior**. Is it a good place or not?”_

_“You’d like her. You both devour books like candy. She’s interested in history and you’re a fountain of historical information.”_

_“I don’t care about a woman who works in the library. I want to know about Lior.”_

_“It’s a desert town.” The blindfolded girl flatly told the façade of the Führer then added brightly. “You should visit during story time. But not as the leader of Amestris, the real you. Bet she’ll think your butt is nice.”_

_“Nicollete!”_

_“On second thought, she’ll probably fall in a dead faint if she saw what you really looked like. Dress up like you normally do. The skort shows off your assets very well.”_

_Envy began to bang his head against the table._

            Sheska supposed it was night when she awoke. Her surroundings were dimly lit by a nearby fire. Beneath her lay cool gray sand and she was wrapped in the sleeping bag. On her brow rested a darkly colored cloth that smelled faintly floral and soothed her aching head.

            She heard the crunch of approaching footsteps on leaves close by but couldn’t even bother to feel alarmed. Sheska merely closed her eyes and waited for what fate had in store for her.

            A hand lightly touched her shoulder and she made a disgruntled noise. A soft and familiar chuckle answers her. She sensed them lean close to her ear, felt their breath tickle the hair plastered to her check.

            “I know something for sure now.” Envy whispered. “Your brain isn’t a shoe.”

            “Hm?”

            “Those headaches are permanent.” He smirked. “Think of it as a trade for knowledge. A type of equivalent exchange.”

            “I hate alchemy.”

            Envy quietly let out a peal of laughter.


	12. Chapter 12

            He found nothing in East City. He found nothing in Dublith. He even searched in Central and every city records the military manage to gather in the short time they had.

            There was no birth certificate for Nicollete Azure.

            But there was however a notice in the East City newspaper concerning the death of a man named Azure.

            Ed read eleven years ago, a lumberjack had been found dead in the forested area outside of Dublith. His death was reported as result of an animal attack due to reports there had been a pack of wolves spotted in the area a day prior.

            “Do you think Teacher knew him?” Al asked his brother. He watched Ed get up and leave the room the library so generously lent them to use. Al trailed after his brother toward the main desk where he asked to use their phone.

            Moments later after two rings, the Fullmetal Alchemist was greeted by a familiar voice.

            “Hello, Butcher’s Shop.”

            “Hey Teacher.”

            “Oh hello Ed.” Izumi greeted. “How are you and Alphonse doing?”

            “We’re okay.” Ed replied politely. “Listen did you know a guy named Azure?”

            Izumi paused before somberly replying, “Yes, actually I did.”

            “What can you tell me about him?”

            “He was– polite. Very friendly but...”

            “But what?” he asked eagerly as Alphonse wandered away.

            “He was strangely overprotective of his wife. He seemed suspicious of everyone and the only one time I ever met her was when they came into the doctor’s office.”

            “What did she look like?”

            “Long dark hair, whiskey colored eyes, and very pregnant.” Izumi replied. Ed heard a faint chuckle over the line. “You couldn’t tell by looking, with her wearing her husband’s clothes but an expectant mother can spot another a yard away.”

            “Oh.” Ed didn’t mean to bring back memories of the child his teacher had lost. But for his investigation, he’d have to force Izumi to remember the days she dreamt of holding the precious child she devotedly carried and had cruelly lost.

            “He kept asking his wife all the while they waited if _they_ knew and each time she’d say no.” she told her student. Ed heard her exhale and laugh.

            “It’s funny. We never once spoke but after I lost…,” Izumi cleared her throat and continued. “She sent me a sympathy card. I can’t recall what the card said but I remember what she wrote.”

            “What was it?”

            “At first it was some empty words about motherhood and loss. But towards the end she wrote that ‘maybe some day your house will have not one little boy but two. _Two golden little boys_.’”

            A small chill ran up Edward’s spine. _She couldn’t have known…_

“After her husband died, what happened to Mrs. Azure?” he asked his voice shaking minutely.

            “Edward, why are you asking about Mr. Azure and his wife?” Izumi firmly demanded.

            “Because I think he’s related to a girl who was connected to the homunculi.” Ed replied. “She also may have had a hand in the kidnapping of a friend of mine.”

            Izumi was silent for a moment or two. Edward heard her speak with her husband, the voices muffled and indistinct.

            “She was murdered.”

            “Excuse me?”

            “His wife was murdered. Some drunk was stumbling in the woods and found them both. News of it was all over town for weeks.” Izumi said. “The constable thought he had been murdered as well but found out it was a wild animal. He figured Azure killed his wife in a rage and the blood drew the animals that killed him.”

            “But hers was obviously murder.”

            “She’d been shot in the back of the head.”

            Edward frowned and jotted the information down, passing the slip of paper to Al before asking his teacher, “I found an obit for Azure and at that time his child would have been five or six. Did anyone ever…”

            “As I told you, the man was very suspicious so he kept the location of his home secret. The constable did manage to find his cabin in the woods and looked around but found it empty.”

            “Ah.”

            “But there was a rumor that there was something not right about the place.”

            “What did you hear?”

            “I heard when the constable went inside, he found blood everywhere and what looked to be part of someone’s face.”

            “Let me guess, a pair of eyes and a nose in the mix.”

            “How did you know?”

            “I saw a picture of his daughter.”

            Edward quickly concluded his phone call and raced back to the secluded room where his brother waited.

            “So what did Teacher say?” Alphonse asked. “Was it helpful?”

            “Very helpful, Al. I know a lot more about our mysterious blind girl.” Edward announced proudly. “She’s from Dublith, her father was a lumberjack and had a secluded cabin where she was probably born.”

            “Wow, that _is_ a lot!” Al exclaimed. “Did you learn anything that could help us rescue Sheska?”

            Ed’s face fell, “No but I think I might have an idea about why Miss Azure was so popular. It’s off the wall but it _fits_.”

            “What’s your theory?”

            Edward told him.

            “You’re _kidding_ , right?”

            “Actually no.” his brother replied. “Think about it, Al. A blind girl managing to escape from a locked down facility, avoids the security guards and somehow gets _across town_ to Sheska’s house. Adding in her getting _on a roof_ and finding a house key hidden up there, it sounds perfectly reasonable.”

            “Well when you put it that way.” Alphonse muttered and jumped when Ed slammed his hands onto the table.

            “Well let’s get started. Off to find material on ESP. Maybe we’ll luck out again and find something important.”

            By dinner time and fifteen books later, they found a reoccurring theme. More precisely, a name. _Nicollete Saretaino_.

            “Here she is again.” Alphonse announced and began reading the article to his brother. “The early life of Ms Saretaino is unknown but what is understood is that the first incident of psychic phenomenon occurred when she was in her early twenties. It was reported that many neighbors heard her pleading with her husband not to go in for work the morning of October 25th and admitted to having a dream about a fire at the mine. Her husband ignored her pleas and went in to work.”

            “At two fifty-six, the greatest mining disaster of the century occurred when a spark ignited an undiscovered pocket of gas and killed over one hundred miners and injured fifty others. At the time of the explosion Ms Saretaino was seen speaking with the undertaker.”

            “Despite the fact that there was no evidence to connect her to the explosion, the widowed woman was victim to many acts of vandalism and was blamed for the miners’ deaths. She soon after left the town but not before asking the town people to come with her. They declined and one week later, the mines beneath the town collapsed plunging everyone to their deaths.”

            “I found another article with her. Seems after the mining incident, she tried city life and helped police arrest several criminals.” Ed told Al. “She ended up marrying one of the officers she worked with and had several children. Says here that _‘most neighbors found her cold toward her children and she allowed them to run wild_.’”

            “I wonder why?”

            “Oh.” The single word conveyed a mix of somber emotions. “Her eldest drowned at a lake the family used to vacation at. The next eldest died before they were two. Another fell out of a tree and died while a fourth died of illness. Her youngest and husband died in a robbery attempt. Seems she had called the police and rushed home in time to watch them die.”

            Ed looked up from the book in front of him, “The police found her crying over her husband’s body. She kept repeating over and over, ‘ _Why didn’t you listen_.’”

            “She knew they would all die.” Al said faintly as Edward returned to reading the book. “It’s...”

            “Al.”

            The tone which Ed used to call his name was cold as ice. He looked and saw his brother’s jaw tighten. Something in the book had him visibly shaken.

            “What’s wrong?” Alphonse asked and Edward pushed the book toward him.

            “Look at the picture. What do you see?”

            Alphonse looked down and studied the picture that had his brother so distressed. The black ink portrayed two women standing before a stately manor, one was middle aged while the other was elderly. Both wore lovely homespun dresses with full skirts but that was where the similarities ended. The younger of the two had mischievously dancing eyes and dark graying hair. She looked familiar but Al couldn’t place where he had seen her.

            The elderly woman in the picture was very familiar to the young man despite he had only met her once. He knew that every white hair was coiffed to perfection on top of her head. Al knew that her eyes were a soft gray and her voice was warm and friendly.

            “Is that… _Dante_?” he exclaimed. His answer was Ed tapping the bottom of the page. He looked to where his brother indicated and read the caption aloud.

            “Nicollete Saretaino and her long time acquaintance, Lady Dante. So it _is_ Teacher’s teacher. But what about it has you so mad?”

            “Look in the window _of her house_.” Ed managed to bite out. Al looked and had he a body, he was certain his blood would be running cold.

            There faintly but still quite clear stood a figure holding a baby up to the window so it could look out.

            The figure was Envy.

            “Brother?”

            “We suspected the homunculi had a master.” Ed told him. “And now we know who.”


	13. Chapter 13

            He wakes and finds himself in chilling near darkness. His breaths become uneven puffs of white before him. He feels fear, for Envy knows this foreboding landscape of wooden crates and broken bottles. He knows this place with its musky copper scent and the rancid odor of vomit in the air.

            It is the place of his birth.

            _Home_

            He hears broken sobs from the corner and Envy does not wish to turn but his body does not obey. He moves and sees the shadowy figure of a defeated man. His broad shoulders slumped forward that once seemed to be able to hold up the world. The arms that once upon a time felt so warm around him and seemed so strong were now cold and empty, lacking any strength they once might have had.

            Envy shakes his head as the man slowly rises to his feet and shambles toward him. His heart thumped madly as crazed eyes locked with his own fearful gaze and then from the depths of Hades a voice rasped.

            “ ** _Abomination_** _!_ ”

            Envy awoke with a jerk, a scream on his lips. After a tense moment he lets out a heavy sigh, sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

            “Nightmare?”

            Envy nearly jumped out of his skin and drew his arm back before realizing the who the familiar voice next to him belonged to. He unclenched his fist with a frustrated growl, his vexation evident.

            “My kind doesn’t dream.”

            The concerned look that appeared on Sheska’s face began to aggravate him. He was in no mood after the haunting dream to deal with her sympathy. He despised pity in any form, especially when directed at him.

            “Are you sure? Most high functioning…”

            “Would you shut up.” He snapped. “It wasn’t a nightmare, it was _nothing_. Drop it, it’s none of your business.”

            “Well excuse me for being concerned about a resurrected dead guy!” Sheska snapped back. She suddenly went pale with awareness. “Oh my _gawd_ , you’re a zombie!”

            The woman began scooting away from Envy as he groaned and rolled his eyes.

            “Don’t eat my brains!” she cried and the homunculi had enough.

            “What brains, you ditz!?” he screamed pushing himself off the ground in one smooth deadly movement. “How many times do I have to tell you _I am a homunculus_. Not an alien, not a…”

            It was then Sheska’s words suddenly struck him as unusual.

            “ _Wait_ …how did you know I died?”

            “It was logical.” She replied with a sniff. “You told me you were born almost four centuries ago, how _else_ could you still be around.”

            For some reason, Envy found her reasoning amusing. He felt a ripple of mirth before bursting into a fit of giggles.

            “How _very_ _clever_!” he laughed. “Wonder what else you’ve figured out on your own?”

            “You have more mood swings than a pregnant woman.”

            He giggled.

            “You have a biting sense of humor.”

             “What can I say? It’s a talent.” Envy said with a shrug and a grin.

            “And for some reason, you hide what you really look like.”

            He no longer found her amusing. Envy lost his smile, avoiding her gaze and Sheska gave him a puzzled look. She almost reached out to touch him but he must have known what she was thinking and stepped out of her reach.

            “In the hotel when you came out of the shower and that time last night, you had a different voice. That’s what you actually sound like, isn’t it?” she asked and a snort answered her.

            “It’s nothing to be ashamed of, your genuine voice is nice.”

            “Kiss off.” Envy replied, the lower tone of his real voice adding further venom to his words. Sheska flushed but pressed on seeking answers.

            “She said I’d fall into a dead faint if I saw what you looked like. Why? Were you disfigured or ugly?”

            Envy laughed quietly and shook his head incredulously.

            “Were you born…” Sheska asked before being cut off by a quiet low purr.

            “Actually most women found me rather handsome.”

            Sheska nodded and began muttering to herself.

            “It makes sense that he’d be attractive with a sexy voice like that. Explains all the confidence he has.”

             “You think I sound _sexy_?” Envy inquired with a smirk and she could have died with embarrassment. He laughed and as he sat back down beside of her, Envy put his arm around her.

            “I’m flattered you would think so.”

            “G-go back to your real voice!” she sputtered, her face taking on an interesting shade of red. It turned darker when he leaned close and whispered in her ear.

            “Sheska, this _is_ my real voice.”

            She shoved him away from her and Envy burst into laughter.

            “You’re very easy to tease.” He giggled pointing at her. Sheska slapped at him which he easily deflected.

            “And you hit like a girl.”

            “I _am_ a girl!”

            “Miss No social life.” He replied. Sheska would have been more annoyed at the insult but he had switched his voice like she asked and was clearly playing with her. She decided in the interest in peace she’d roll with it and shot back.

            “Mr. I like dresses.”

            He stuck his tongue out at her and retorted, “Look at me, I’m Sheska. The only date I’ve had was for my library books.”

            “Almost four hundred years old and hanging out with young girls? Sounds to me you’re a pedo.”

            Envy fell to his side laughing and soon Sheska joined in. “Looks like I’m not the only one with a nasty sense of humor. That was good.”

            Their camp was filled with a few more moments of happy amused sounds. Envy hardly able to keep a straight face for more than a second and Sheska bathing in the warmth of the off handed compliment she received.

            “Why are we trading insults?” she asked her mouth quirked with merriment. “Is it because you find it fun?”

            “A little.” He responded gazing up at the sparks of firelight floating in the air. “I always found it helped keep my mind off of things.”

            “Like?”

            “Nightmares.”

            Sheska nodded, “I’m pretty sure I’ll end up with a few. This morning when Gluttony and Lust appeared, I was petrified.”

            “You didn’t look it.”

            “Well yeah,” she said with a shrug. “I knew you’d come back and save me. After all, you promised to keep me safe.”

            “You shouldn’t trust me.” He told her grimly. “You shouldn’t ever trust something like me.”

            “Nicollette did.”

            “And she’s dead.”


	14. Chapter 14

_“Why don’t we talk a little about ourselves.” A pale little girl with gauze wrapped around her eyes asked. The young man who looked more like a girl with long green hair looks at her startled._

_“Why would you want to do that?” he snapped regaining his composure._

_The girl shrugged, “Why not? It passes the time.”_

_“You know that with your powers you can find out these things on your own.”_

_“But where’s the fun in that?”_

_He rolled his eyes and put his hands on his hips, “All I’m here for is names of alchemists to make the stone.”_

_“Then an exchange. You tell me something about yourself and I’ll give you a name.”_

_“Okay, what do you want to know?”_

_The little girl thought about it for awhile, “What’s your natural hair color?”_

_“Red.”_

_“Liar.”_

_“It’s close enough.”_

_“If you’re color blind!”_

_“Just give me a name!” he snapped and the little girl giggled._

_“The most powerful alchemist in the world would be a good person to try.”_

_“I hate you.” He growled._

_“You know I’m telling the truth…unlike you.” She retorted and laughed. “Let’s try again. I ask a question and you give me an answer, this time an honest one.”_

_“Fine what do you want to know?”_

_“Does the carpet match the drapes?”_

_“Of course.”_

_“Lovely!” the girl exclaimed in delight. “Now for your answer…”_

            Sheska woke with a gasp, her face red. She glanced around the camp area. The flickering fire, the warm gray sand and trees surrounding her and found Envy missing.

            She felt a moments panic, remembering the last time the homunculi left her alone. Alert, breaths coming in silent gasps, Sheska listens for indications once again she’s been found. There are only the sounds of crickets and the crackling fire.

            Assured she’s alone and under no immediate threat, Sheska turns her attention towards analyzing her latest vision. The girl was obviously a young Nicollete and was talking to Envy, so it must have happened in the past. They had recently met, if the bandages were any indication.

            _But what was the importance of this occasion? Why was I shown this?_ Sheska wondered. _Could it be the mention of a stone? A remark about the person Envy is taking me to? Or…_

            Sheska’s cheeks turned pink, “Why did she ask _that question_?”

            “Another vision?”

            She let out a loud scream and Envy, arms loaded with sticks and firewood merely rolled his eyes. He dumped the kindling across from Sheska as she sputtered and finally started forming words.

            “Yesh! You almost gave me a heart attack!”

            “Would solve a great many of things if I actually succeeded.” He responded with a wry grin. “Head ok?”

            “It’s fine.” She said and added positively, “In fact, it doesn’t hurt at all.”

            “Mine does. You have quite a loud voice.”

            “You startled me!”

            “I don’t see how. You _are_ psychic.” Envy countered and Sheska sighed.

            “A crappy psychic.” She corrected. “I didn’t see Lust in time on the train. Was oblivious when I met Gluttony and most times all I seem to see is disjointed _past_ images.”

            “Sometimes the past can help in the future. What did you see this time?”

            “Nicollete as a child chatting with you while she was in the hospital.”

            “Learn anything?”

            “You tend to lie and the carpet matches the drapes.”

            Envy stared at her briefly, clearly caught off guard by her response and then burst out laughing.

            “Of all the…” he cackled.

            “The first part was informative.” Sheska argued. “And I know you’re not a red head.”

            “No, I’m not.” He said with a laugh and Sheska scowled. She clenched her hands into fist beneath the sleeping bag and turned her gaze to the fire. The warm reds and bright yellows dancing over blackened embers made her recall something she’d seen.

            “You’re blond.” She exclaimed. “At the hotel when you were drying your hair, the tips were gold.”

            “Would you believe me if I said _yes_?” Envy shrugged, “But as you’ve found out, I _do_ lie.”

            “Not this time.” Sheska replied with confidence. She pointed a finger at him and proclaimed. “You’re a natural blond.”

            “Congratulations, Miss Homely psychic. But there was something a tad more important in that conversation than my hair.”

            Sheska thought back to the vision. _He was there for names of alchemists. A stone that the most powerful alchemist in the world could make…why does that sound familiar? A Stone…_

            “The Philosopher Stone! You wanted her to help you find someone to make it.” Sheska exclaimed and Envy clapped. Her mind began to race.

            “ _Ohmy_.. Ed’s report about Lab 5..but if you wanted to be human why wait almost four hundred years? There were rumors of other… _your master_! You wanted it for her!”

            “See? Knowing the past _can_ help in the future.”

            “She’s already powerful and with a Stone she’d be unstoppable. Why if rumors are true you could…” Sheska turned toward Envy, cold dread filling her body. “You said she has knowledge that extends over hundred of years. She hasn’t, _you know_..”

            “Been alive that long? Yes, she has.” The homunculi said cheerfully. “But on the bright side, she can’t actually _make_ the Stone. She knows how, but lacks the power. But with your psychic ability, she could discover where to find those who _could_ create it. Right now, the master has to devise situations like Ishval to have a stone and the alchemist could always back out.”

            “So the war… _all those lives_.” The ruthlessness of this woman’s machinations horrified and stunned Sheska. She couldn’t understand how one person, no matter how long lived could ever think of or was willing to do something like this.

            “Your kind think us homunculi are soulless and evil? Guess what, we have nothing on humanity.” Envy chuckled. “Even without the Master’s influence, humans destroy each other. You envy what other people have. Everyone is greedy. Wrath, gluttony, lust… get what I’m saying?”

            “Homunculi are named after sins but humanity is the ones who truly embody them.” Sheska replied. “It’s your master’s idea of a joke, right?”

            “Pretty funny, huh?”

            “ _No_.” She argued. “And not everyone is like that!”

            “ _Oh_?”

            “I’m not.”

            “Sure you are. You’re a glutton for knowledge.” Envy retorted with a smile adding. “And so is the Master.”


	15. Chapter 15

            “You’re serious.”

            Edward knew from the condescending tone and the smug quirk of Mustang’s lips that the colonel didn’t believe him. Even he, after writing out his findings in the most professional manner possible under the circumstances was finding his report hard to believe.

            “ESP, Fullmetal?” the colonel asked. “You believe a blind girl and her mother possessed psychic abilities.”

            “And her grandmother. We traced a woman notorious for knowing the future to Azure as well. She predicted various deaths before they occurred and even tried to prevent them.”

            “I see.” Mustang said rereading that portion of Ed’s report. He remembered reading about the town’s mining explosion and collapse while he was in school.

            “And she revealed the locations of criminals in East City. She even foretold her family’s deaths.”

            Mustang nodded, looking up from the report still wearing that infuriating grin.

            “But ESP.” he said before Edward cut him off.

            “I talked to Archer. He confirmed that Nicollette Azure told him exactly where to find Envy, what he looked like and what he could do.” The blond teenager smiled sweetly. “Some of the men that were with the colonel were even nice enough to tell me that it was Azure that did the deed. So what does that tell you?”

            “She’s a good shot.” Mustang replied with a smirk. Edward leapt to his feet.

            “You _knew?!”_

            “I sent Major Armstrong with Archer and he told me what he saw at the diner. What the homunculi was eating, what was said. But since I know how much you _love_ research I didn’t have the heart to spoil your fun.”

            Edward growled and fell back onto the couch. Mustang chuckled and placed the teen’s report in his desk drawer.

            “I didn’t think of the ESP angle, though. It does make sense and explains why the girl had such interesting visitors.” The colonel told him. “Learn anything else?”

            “The master of the homunculi was Teacher’s teacher, a woman named Dante.” Fullmetal said. He grinned at the surprised expression that temporarily crossed his commanding officer’s face. “She used to live in Dublith, isolated up in the mountains on the other side of the forest.”

            “Used to?”

            “When I called Teacher, she mentioned Dante had moved.” Ed replied. “She heard Dante had said something about aching bones and needing warmer weather.”

            “So no one knows where she went?”

            “Nope.”

            Roy ran a hand through his hair then drummed his fingers distractedly on his desk before noticing Ed’s smug grin.

            “What is it, Fullmetal?”

            “Al and I got left a note.” He replied with a confident smile. “We may not know where Dante is but Azure’s mother gave us a hint.”

            His commanding officer motioned for him to continue. Edward paused to bask in the glow of being aware of something ahead of Mustang before revealing the contents of the note.

            “It said, ‘ _Follow to the place where it began_.’”

            “Where it began?” Mustang repeated with a puzzled frown and Edward nodded.

            “We’re looking for Dante and a letter from the daughter of her best friend suddenly appears.” Ed said animatedly. “The timing couldn’t be a coincident. So Al and I are heading to Dublith _‘where it all began’_. We might even find another lead there.”

            “And the follow part? What do you suppose she meant by that?” the colonel inquired shuffling a stack of paperwork on his desk.

            “Follow her clues.”

            “Handle this on your way.” Mustang pushed the paperwork toward Ed.

            At a loss, the teen took the pieces of paper and started scanning their contents. A report from a motel regarding a room that had been broken into. An article summary from a town newspaper. Another burglary report this time concerning…bees?

            “There’s a map marking the locations.” Mustang informed Ed. “Take a look.”

            Edward looked at the map and noticed someone had marked each incident and drew a line connecting them. Then there was another line marking the path of the train Sheska was last seen on. Its final stop was Resembool.

            “She got away?!” Ed asked incredulously but his hopes were dashed when Roy shook his head.

            “I had Havoc look into it and people where that article came from told him that Envy is still with Sheska. There was a bit of laughter on their end concerning a show he performed but they were quite certain were together.”

            “A show?”

            “Let’s just say a few State Alchemists won’t be able to reveal their faces in that town.” Mustang chuckled. “The things people will do for a bite to eat.”

            “Homunculi don’t need to eat.”

            Mustang just smiled.

 

* * *

 

 

            She’s still thinking about it after they trekked for miles and stopped for a bite to eat. _Are all humans really a symbol for sin? Is there anyone would doesn’t envy or lust. Is there a single person who isn’t greedy or full of pride? And what does that say about the human race?_

            Sheska reflected on these questions and other as Envy went off to collect water from a creek not far from her. _We call homunculi soulless monsters but what about us? Aren’t we just as soulless? Don’t we murder our own kind? When we see injustice, don’t we simply ignore it because ‘it doesn’t involve me’?_

            Envy had enjoyed the silence her contemplation brought him. There were no stupid questions to answer. No forcing himself to be polite. She hadn’t gotten too caught up in her quest for answers to use her abilities and necessitated his attention.

            But two hours of staring at that puckered brow had gotten old. He was growing bored joking about wrinkles or her face sticking that way. When he returned with water and set it to boiling, he resolved to remedy the issue.

            “Shes~ka, you’re still not thinking about what I said, are you?”

            “It’s no wonder every homunculi is a screwed up mess.” Sheska muttered.

            “Yeah, you still are.” Envy said his lips puckering with annoyance. “Quit thinking so much, you’re going to make yourself sick.”

            “What makes a homunculus any different from a human? Don’t we both feel and bleed the same?”

            “No~o, “Envy responded. “You bleed blood. I bleed purified red water. _Big_ difference.”

            “But it’s still blood.” Sheska argued turning toward him. “Both are red and contain vital things to life. Won’t you die if you lose too much?”

            “More or less.”

            “Then there isn’t any difference between us.”

            “Can you change into anyone you want?” Envy snapped impatiently. “Devour any substance using just your teeth? What about sharpen your nails into something that can cut anything?”

            “Of course I can’t do any of that!” Sheska replied sharply. “But can you memorize any book you read just once? What about clap your hands and perform alchemy? Can you do any of _that?_ ”

            By the time her rant was finished, Sheska shook with impotent rage and fury. Her breath burned in her throat and her heart hammered fiercely in her chest.

            And then she heard laughter. Amusement flickered in the eyes that met hers and her lips pursed in annoyance.

            “And what is so funny?” she demanded with both hands on her hips.

            “You.”

            “And _what_ is so funny about _me_?” Sheska spat out contemptuously. “That I _dared_ to raise my voice to an immortal wannabe house plant?”

            “I have an eidetic memory too.”

            Sheska’s stunned silence at his confession did not last long.

            “And how was I supposed to know you can memorize books like me?” she asked. “You hardly disclose _any_ thing about yourself.”

            “I’m shy.” He snickered.

            “You are not!” she screamed. “You dress like a girl, prefer to have long green hair and flash more leg than a stripper!”

            “And how would _you_ know what a stripper wears?”

            The look Sheska shot him was venomous but the homunculus just laughed at the rancor leveled at him. Something in her felt as if he purposely goaded her into flying off the handle again. Like he might be testing her or, more likely, trying to avoid talking about himself.

            “Ah, the ugly caterpillar comes out of her shell.” Envy cooed. “And what type of butterfly comes out but a spitfire! _I’m so_ _proud_.”

            “You’re a jerk.”

            “Probably why I don’t have any friends.”

            “No, it’s because you lie and hide anything personal.” Sheska muttered. “I would have figured two people on the run would have at least talked about themselves a little.”

            “My name is Envy, I’m a homunculus with the ability to alter my shape and have an herbalism hobby.”

            “And lies, especially about having blond hair.” Sheska added and he snickered.

            “And what about _you_?” Envy inquired. “All I know about _you_ is you got fired from the library in Central and now work as a record transcriber for the military.”

            “Well since I’m not _shy_ about sharing details about myself.” Sheska said haughtily. “I was raised by my mother in Central.”

            She noticed his bemused expression momentarily slipped and filed that moment away for later. There was something important there.

            “My father died when I was young so it was mostly me and her.” She smiled in recollection. “Mom used to work constantly but she always managed to have time to make me lunch and dinner. I remember once she surprised me by buying a series I wanted for my birthday. She said we didn’t have the money for it at the time. But she bought all of the books for me anyway.”

            “Where is she now? Did she…?”

            “Oh no, she’s still alive.” Sheska responded. “A few years ago, her health declined and so I’ve been working hard to pay her medical bills.”

            He nodded and she saw something that she never would have suspected from the homunculus. _Sadness_. But as soon as Envy noticed her watching him, it was gone as quickly as it appeared.

            “What about you?” she asked. “Do you have any fond memories of your parents?”

            Sheska was startled to see Envy’s casual expression swing unexpectedly to unadulterated fury.

            “I don’t have any parents.” He growled, his expression dark and troubling.

            “You’re an orphan?”

            “You don’t get it, do you?” Envy said with a dark laugh. “Homunculi don’t come into this world as plump rosy babies. We’re created when an alchemist fails at a human transmutation. When we are born, our bodies are simply an assortment of misshapen organs and bones.”

            The vivid image Envy brought forth was at odds with Sheska vision. Her mind refused to acknowledge such horrible portrayal of his birth. He had to be wrong yet only a homunculi would know such information. A newborn couldn’t remember such things but he wouldn’t be the typical child.

            “Why would someone do that?” she whispered feeling suddenly faint.

            “Love. Stupidity.” Envy said with a shrug. “Take your pick.”

            “But if homunculi are born without a human form, why do you have one now?”

            “Red stones.” He answered. “Inside every perfected stone are human lives. A soul is what gives a human life _but I don’t have one._ The stones are the homunculus version of a soul and since we have many…let’s just say it gives us an edge.”

            “Immortality.”

            “ _Not._ Quite.” Envy confessed, “Every time I’m injured or killed, I use the lives inside the stones I’ve consumed to heal myself. Once all the lives are extinguished, _I die_.”

            “Well it’s a good thing you’re so old.” Sheska said with a nervous laugh. “You’ve probably gobbled up a ton of them!”

            She floundered before the uneasiness of his look.

            “Sorry.” He told her with a shrug. “Thanks to my time with the military, most of my extra lives are gone.”

            “Is that why we’re hiding?”

            “I may be the first and eldest homunculi.” Envy told her “but even if I was at full strength, I wouldn’t be able to take on more than two.”

            “And your master will send them all?”

            He laughed, “Thankfully no. Her and Greed are on the outs so we don’t have to worry about the Ultimate Shield.”

            _I hope._

            Envy kept that final thought to himself so not to scare Sheska. Afterwards, they packed up their things, carefully hiding traces of their camp and began hiking toward Resembool.

 


	16. Chapter 16

_The most innocent event pulled him from unconsciousness._

_His nose itched._

_Envy lifted a leaden arm to alleviate the itch when he was halted by shackles. In a mystified haze, he looked down and realized a few things._

_**One** : Two inch thick links of cold steel had firmly been wrapped around his arms. **Two** : Said arms had three needles firmly taped in place, flooding his body with paralyzing drugs that muddled his senses and robbed him of his strength. **Three** : He was lying on a hard examination table._

_“Jus’ great.” He murmured, his world spinning. “Go out for ice cream an’ get hijacked by the gover’ment.”_

_When the doctors arrive back from lunch, they find their inhuman subject chomping at the air in a futile effort to assuage his itch. They watch, curious and more than a little amused at the childish attempt before jotting down their observations of their subject._

_“Subject H1’s unearthly strength appears to be hindered by either experimental drug JO 905, RM 123 or DA 1311 or a combination thereof. A possible side effect is a mild itch.” One of the doctors said to an assistant who transcribed every word._

_“Not a mild itch.” Envy told the gathered scientists and thrashed against the restraints. The metal groaned to the horror of the men and women. “It itches like crazy and I’m gonna scratch it!”_

_The metal warped and screeched sending the scientists scrambling. Most of the assistants dashed for the door, shoving their higher ups aside. There was tension amongst the fear filled people in the room. Should they flee and lose an important scientific specimen? Or should they remain and bravely face down this threat to their very existence?_

_The majority backed away in fear while one brave man marched right up to the beast. He reached out, his hand shaking, shifting closer and closer until…_

Scratch scratch scratch.

_Envy nearly purred in delight and moved his head so the man could take care of another itch. The doctor reached out behind him, motioning to anyone to give him the syringe that lay just out of reach. A bold assistant itched forward and handed her supervisor what he needed._

_“You’ll feel better after this.” The man told the homunculi._

_Envy’s eyes shot open just in time to see the scientist thrust the needle directly into his chest and saturate his body with a high power antihistamine. Breath catching, chest heavy, Envy’s eyes fluttered shut and he had one last thought before smashing into unconsciousness._

_I don’t itch_

            “Sheska.” A voice called out through the haze. The tone was insistent and sounded mildly annoyed. Her body jostled and the voice came again, sterner this time.

            “Sheska. I’m not carrying you anymore, get up.”

            She opened her eyes and briefly wondered what had happened. The blue sky above her had faded to twilight. The wooded area was unfamiliar but the hands supporting her bottom weren’t. Sheska’s cheeks warmed.

            “Did I pass out walking again?” she moaned burying her face in Envy’s back.

            “No, you took a nap and it looked like you needed the rest.” He said with a grin.

            “Answer another question for me?”

            “Sure.”

            “If you can change your form to anything, why are you giving me a piggyback?” Sheska asked. She felt his chest shaking before he let out a laugh.

            “Conserving strength.”

            “Ah.”

            “That and I wanted to see your face when you woke up and realized I’m touching your ass.”

            “Pervert!” she screamed thrashing. She slapped him in the back of the head and Envy unceremoniously dropped her on her rear. While she whined and rubbed at her sore backside, the homunculi tossed a sickly sweet smile over his shoulder.

            “Who’s the pervert now?” he asked in a dark rumbling voice. “If memory serves not only were you ogling me a few times but you also copped a feel.”

            “What the heck! I’ve never groped you!” Sheska cried leaping to her feet in a lightning fast motion. Envy leisurely turned and crossed his arms over his chest with a smirk.

            “Military HQ. Bullets were flying and I was carrying you. One got close to your head and you groped me.” He reminded watching as her mouth dropped open. “Did you enjoy yourself, Miss Bookworm?”

            To her annoyance, Sheska found herself starting to blush. She began feeling numb and shaking with increasing rage and shock. She sputtered, bristling with indignation.

            “ _You_. You _jerk_!”

            “We’ve been over this already. Try being more creative with your insults.” Envy told her. He thought for a moment, “Ah, here’s a good one: hooligan. No no, cad. It rhymes with bad.”

            He gave her a gleeful smirk and Sheska saw red.

            “You know what else rhymes with bad? _Mad_.”

            “So does clad, lad, plaid and _had._ ”

            “Nance.”

            “Getting better.” He chuckled.

            “Pineapple.”

            “Are you referring to my hair or my preferences?”

            “Your preferences, _of course_.” Sheska shot back and Envy grinned.

            “I’m straight.”

            She did a double take, “What?”

            “I was being honest when I said I look this way to throw opponents off.” Envy told her. “And it works too.”

            “You still look like a pineapple. A femmie, alien pineapple.” Sheska told him sourly.

            “We’ve also been over this, Sheska.” Envy replied with a sweet grin. “I’m not an alien.”

            “Yeah, yeah. Almost four hundred year old failed human transmutation.”

            “And an Amestrian.”

            “Yeah, who _lies_.”

            “And loves chocolate parfait.” Envy said happily and Sheska gave him a sidelong glance of utter disbelief.

            “You like.. _what_?”

            “Chocolate parfait.”

            “Isn’t parfait a dessert that’s made of whipped cream, eggs, and sugar?”

            “Yeah, it’s kinda like a chocolate pudding… _which I also enjoy_.” Envy laughed and bashfully scratched at the back of his head. “Guess you could say I’m a bit of a chocolate fiend.”

            There was something familiar about the self-conscious gesture. Like she’d seen someone in passing do the exact same thing just briefly. Or seen someone move the same way in a vision. Or maybe, Sheska thought with a frown, she’d seen Envy do the same in another form.

            “I like chocolate bars, chocolate sundaes, chocolate milk.” Envy voiced snapping her out of her thoughts. He flashed at her a mischievous grin. “Maybe next time someone offers Ed milk, they should give him chocolate milk. It’s how I manage to down the crap.”

            _He has something in common with his sworn enemy,_ she realized with amusement. _Both Edward and Envy both hate drinking milk._

            “You satisfied now?” he asked her innocently tilting his head to one side. “You know more about me than most people do.”

            “Do most people refer to Lust and Gluttony?”

            “They’re the two I’m mostly around.”

            “I guess. So, they don’t know you’re a chocolate fanatic?”

            Envy’s face scrunched up cutely, “All the homunculi know about _that_. It’s not much of a secret.”

            “And what _is_ a secret?” Sheska found herself asking. The look Envy gave her was smoldering with mystery and sensual humor.

            When he answered her, his voice once again changed to a deeper tone, one that promised desire and wild nights beneath the sheets.

            “You already know.” He replied turning away from her and walking away. Sheska blushed at the direction her thoughts went.


	17. Chapter 17

            The sun was setting on the third day since Sheska went missing and in Dublith nothing seemed any different. The way the gravel crunched beneath Ed’s boots as he walked down the street. The sight of the fence surrounding the two story white building advertising Meat was purchased here.

            “Do you really think Teacher’ll have a clue about Sheska?” Alphonse asked as they approached the front door. He saw his brother shrug before ringing the bell.

            “Azure said to follow her clues.”

            “She said follow to where it began.” Al argued as they heard the tell-tale thud of large footsteps approach. “Brother.. What if it’s not the clues we’re supposed to go after?”

            Edward had just opened his mouth to speak when the door to the shop opened with an ominous creak and a vast hulking figure blocked the opening. The sight of the shadowy white apron clad individual caused a nervous chill to run up Edward’s spine and even Al’s despite only being a mere soul. But both boys knew a far scarier person lie in wait inside. The person squeezed almost magically through the doorway and rose to its full height before the two brothers.

            “Hey Sig.” Edward greeted with a grin and an apprehensive wave. “Is Teacher ok?”

            Sig Curtis’s fierce beady eyes looked down at the boy from over a dark neatly trimmed mustache and beard. A beefy arm used to years of chopping thick cuts of prime rib rose and roughly patted Edward and Alphonse on top of their heads.

            “Izumi’s waiting inside.” Sig replied, his voice a strange combination of lazy drawl and deep reverberation. With practiced ease, Sig slipped back into his workplace home and led the brothers inside where his wife waited.

            If one were to have heard of Izumi Curtis before meeting in person, they would have imagined her as a huge bear like woman of enormous strength and ferocity. In their imagination she’d wear pelts of fallen animals she hunted down herself.

            They would be surprised to see the small fragile looking woman with pale skin contrasting her long dark dreadlocks pulled back at the sides. Her clothing was a white button up collared tunic with the top two left undone revealing modest cleavage. Beneath she wore loose black pants and flip flops on her feet made by the same company as Sig’s own footwear.

            Izumi was sitting in a chair next to an opened box with a stack of papers in her lap when the Elrics walked in. She greeted them with a bemused smile, a change from the usual hip throw they were long used to.

            “H-hello Teacher.” Alphonse greeted as his brother took a seat across from her and Izumi quietly laughed.

            “So why have you come back?” she asked with a bemused smile. She held up a card with the picture of a pale orchid on the front. “Does it have to do with the Azure family?”

            “It has to do with Dante.” Edward replied imposing an iron control on his emotions. He saw Izumi tenderly place the card back into the box as he pulled out the picture he discovered.

            “Look in the window.” He told her curtly as he passed the picture to her. Edward watched as Izumi’s face darkened then bowed her head and sigh.

            “I should have known. The way she hid herself away. How she spoke of humans being separate from herself.”

            “But Teacher.” Al began to say but Izumi interrupted.

            “After you asked about Dante, I went to her house and found these.” She handed Edward a series of three letters, the edges brown with age. The state alchemist scanned the first page and his face turned scarlet.

            “Those dates? They are from a system of measurement that hasn’t been used in centuries.” Izumi told Ed as he scanned the next two pieces of paper. “I think this goes far beyond what you imagined.”

            “I can imagine a lot of things.” Ed chuckled, “Three generations having precognitive abilities. Homunculi fighting over a human. My worst enemy _obviously_ protecting one of my friends.”

            “Brother..”

            “You said it Al, Lust and Envy were fighting each other. And Mustang said Envy got some food even though he doesn’t need…” Edward’s face blanched of color and his mouth opened in a silent ‘oh’.

            Izumi and Al watched him with concern as Edward went scrambling for his suitcase and opened it right in the middle of the floor. Tossing out spare clothing and reports alike, Ed searched until he found a certain sheet of paper and examined it closely.

            “The motel, the town and the train. All of them lead back to…” Edward let out a laugh full of self-deprecation. “I’m such a fool. Where it all began.. _of course_!”

            “Ed?” Al said full of unease. Ed leapt to his feet with a smile.

            “Thanks for the help Teacher. Now I know where we’re supposed to be.” He told a rather stunned Izumi and Alphonse.

            “Where you’re…” she said struggling to keep up with this new series of events and information. “What do you..?”

            Edward shoved everything half-hazardly into his suitcase, including the letters his Teacher gave him.

            “Envy and Sheska first escaped on a train. When that literally fell apart, they sought refuge in a motel on the way. Then Envy stocked up on supplies _for Sheska_ to make a journey where it all began.” Edward explained. “Al, the note from Azure wasn’t talking about where it began for _Dante_ , she was talking about _us_. Where it all began _for us_!”

            “The train they were on was headed for Resembool!” Alphonse exclaimed his gauntlets trembling with eagerness. “But why is Envy going there?”

            Izumi finally caught onto Edward’s revelation.

            “Your father.”

            “Before you ask,” Edward said in a rather irritated tone and just a tad pink in the cheeks. “Apparently our _Dad_ was Dante’s lover.”

            “ _What?!”_

            “Yeah, maybe when Envy gets there we can ask _him_ about that.”


	18. Chapter 18

_He wasn’t in the best of moods to begin with and she wasn’t helping his mood one bit. In fact, she was purposely stoking the flames._

_“I made you a card. It says ‘Congratulations on passing the exam.’ See?”_

_“Make your move.” He growled. She smiled and slid him the card._

_“When you three meet up, promise me you won’t beat them up?” she snorted. “What am I saying? You’re going to make him mad and then plant your foot across his face. Multiple times.”_

_He growled at her again, “Will you move one of your pieces now?”_

_“When you do it, be sure to wash your feet beforehand. You don’t want to give him athlete’s cheek.”_

_“Shut up and play chess, else I’m leaving.”_

_“Go ahead,_ Fuehrer _. Your new secretary can’t wait to get back to you.” She replied. “Oh wait, isn’t she your—”_

_“Don’t you dare say it!”_

_She laughed at him, “You’re so easy to rile, my old friend. By the way, I didn’t want to say this but I won the game twenty minutes ago.”_

_Envy took one look at the board and groaned. This whole entire time he’d been waiting for her move, he should have seen it. He banged his head against the table sending the pieces jumping._

_“Why do I keep thinking I can win against a psychic?!”_

_“Because you’re not here to play the game but to hear about my visions.”_

_“I had hoped you didn’t know about that.”_

_“There isn’t any point lying to a psychic.” She shrugs, “What do you want to know?”_

_“The names of some useful alchemists.”_

_“That’s what she wants, not you.” She tells him and leans toward him. “What do **you** want to know?”_

_Envy thinks about her question for a moment. What does he want to know from her? Easy, he wants to know where he is. But he also knows the girl in front of him has a way of giving out information that in the end doesn’t help one bit._

_Just like her mother._

_He needs to phrase his question the right way to get the right answers. He thinks about it for a moment longer._

_“Where do I find Hohenheim?”_

_“You’ll see.” She says and he’s seeing red. Of course she wouldn’t answer him. He can feel his anger flooding his body with heat. The sound of teeth grinding fill the room._

_“I swear I’ll show you where he is.” She promises. “But not right now, the path isn’t ready.”_

_“When?” he practically screams._

_“You’ll know.”_

 

* * *

    

         Sheska snapped awake with a gasp. The sight and sounds of the crackling camp fire were familiar as the prickles of pain behind her eyes. The scent of cooked meat was still new to her but something she was becoming accustomed to.

            What she found hard to deal with was Envy himself.

            “Pleasant dreams, _Sheska_?” he inquired with a bemused smile. “Do you want to talk about it or are we just going to gossip with one another?”

            His chirpy sweet tone was at odds with what she already knew about him. So she refused to answer and simply glared blearily over the fire at him.

            “Gossip then!” Envy replied his arms spread expansively. “Eye patches are the newest fad. Why I wouldn’t be surprised if Mustang starts sporting one!”

            He cocked his head to the side then a grin overtook his features.

            “Though it would be better if it cover his mouth.”

            Sheska couldn’t control her burst of laughter.

            “Did you hear bald is in? Now Armstrong’ll finally have some fashion sense.” Envy cooed and her laughter began anew.

            “Stop it.”

            “He _does_ seem to be popular figure.” He told her. “Why I swear I saw an Armstrong clone up at Mustang’s office one day. _Sparkles_ and everything!”

             Tears began to run down her cheeks as she laughed harder. She was becoming breathless and saw that even Envy’s eyes danced with glee.

            “Stop!” Sheska gasped. “I can’t take anymore.”

            “Going to talk about whether or not you had a vision?” he asked scooping out some food.

            “Fine. No more jokes. Too funny.”

            Envy passed her the plate of food with prideful flourish and sat down to listen to her.

            “I saw you and Nicollete… _well_ it _was_ you but you looked like Fuehrer Bradley. She had made a card for you to give someone but she knew you’d end up beating them up.” Sheska told him. “Then she made a crack about Ms Douglas for some reason.”

            “Sloth.” Envy corrected. “The person you know as Juliet Douglas is a homunculus named Sloth.”

            “Again with the sin motif.” Sheska muttered. “So why’d you get so cheesed off about Nicollette calling her a homunculus?”

            She saw his expression shift abruptly to fury and she had an apology on the tip of her tongue when he surprised her.

            “Sloth and my relationship goes beyond simply us being homunculi.”

            “Oh.” Sheska responded and Envy smirked. “Well, I’d ask you to elaborate but it’s really none of my business.”

            “And I might lie.” He added with a shrug and she smiled as well.

            “That too.”

            “See anything else in that vision of the past?” Envy asked poking at the fire with a stick.

            It had taken so long for her and Envy to be comfortable enough around one another to joke around. For him to open up only a little more to her. Sheska sensed if she revealed what she’d learnt from his past, _that_ name and those words that the friendly atmosphere would vanish.

            “I think I know who the man in Resembool is.” She said uneasily and Sheska saw Envy’s lips thin so she rushed on.

            “In the vision you asked about a person named Hohenheim. She said the path wasn’t open but she’d show you where he was. But when she died, Nicollette said her promise lived on with me.”

            Sheska’s words came spilling out faster, “and so you’re taking me to someone who’d protect me, someone you said was the most powerful alchemist in the world who lives in Resembool and the only alchemists I know of in Resembool are…”

            Sheska took a deep breath and closed her eyes, hoping. Wondering. Dreading the answer she may receive.

            “Are we going to see Hohenheim Elric?”

            Not a breath could be heard. The single crackling sound of the fire filled the silence. Wary, Sheska open one eye and then the other to peer at the creature across from her.

            He was watching her. Eerily, he revealed no inner or outward conflict in his eyes or body language. It was as if he were empty of everything inside. Like an empty doll that as past alchemists swore his kind was.

            This change in Envy frightened Sheska more than any of his rages or cutting words. It was completely opposite of everything she had ever knew of the young man before her. Where was the fearful monster? The teasing flirt? The clever immortal?

            What did he see when he looked upon her? Did he still see the bookish girl who lost her job due to her adoration of the written word? The helpless homely ex-librarian who fainted multiple times during their journey? Or perhaps did Envy see someone who could be trusted, even just a little with his secrets? Or did he simply see an enigma he couldn’t quite understand.

            “Clever.” Envy finally said breaking the silence. He motioned to her plate of untouched food. “Eat.”

            Sheska stiffly nodded then bent over her food and began to eat. She could feel his burning gaze on her, watching curiously as she ate. He seemed to be contemplating, lost in his musings. Finally when it seemed like the silence would last forever, Envy spoke.

            “What gave me away?”

            Startled, Sheska looked up at him wide-eyed, not quite comprehending him and startled at the sudden lack of silence. He chuckled and further elaborated.

            “How did you guess it was Pipsqueak’s father we were seeking out?” Envy’s voice seemed soft and friendly but held an edge that spoke of veiled hostility.

            “The _most powerful_ alchemist in the world would _love_ to see his adoring _wife_ and _sons_.” Sheska softly quoted back as she avoided his unnerving gaze. “With everything else I knew.. it just kinda fit.”

            She busied herself by toying with her food before setting it down, resigned with the loss of her appetite.

            “Ed and Al’s father is still highly sought after by the military, which is a testament of his skill. Plus he would probably like to see his family.” Sheska told Envy and caught a momentary flicker of some dark emotion pass across his face before it vanished almost as if it hadn’t ever been there.

            “Pretty good idea huh?” Envy said with that falsely bright smile that Sheska was beginning to recognize he used when he was genuinely troubled. “You hide out with the only person who can take on the master and keep Nicollete’s powers safe.”

            “What about you?” she asked and an arched eyebrow indicated his humored surprise.

            “Aw, is the plain widdle ass grabber worried about widdle old _me_?”

            “Do you really have to do that?”

            “Do what?”

            “Make a derogatory comment whenever someone shows any concern?” Sheska responded. “What? Are you so used to being treated like ‘ _the abomination_ ’ that all you know how to do is react negatively?”

            She heard his quick intake of breath as his body stiffened in shock. As realization hit, Sheska gaped wholly taken aback.

            “ _Seriously?!”_

            “Well what do you expect?” Envy said his expression darkening. “I’m an immortal shape shifter with anger management issues. Kindness isn’t something I’m accustomed to.”

            _A life without kindness._ Those words echoed inside Sheska’s mind for what seemed like forever. It was a startling revelation and incredible insight to the creature before her.

            Her expression turned to one of grief for the lost little homunculi that Envy once was.

            _What must it have been like?_ It seemed like a totally different planet from one that Sheska lived in. Centuries worth of days filled with cruelty in a merciless world. One that shaped a helpless and misshapen being once so very innocent, into a lethal monster full of malice.

             “ _Stop it_.” Envy growled snapping Sheska out of her thoughts. His expression was thunderous and with a pang she realized he wanted none of her pity.

            “You wanna know something about me so bad? Looking at me, feeling _pity_ makes me want to snap your _neck_.”

            “Sorry.” Sheska mumbled reaching for her food only to pause when she heard Envy sigh. She looked up catching him rubbing his brow then gazed at her with an unreadable expression on his face before speaking.

            “That day was when Edward became a state alchemist so Nicollete made him a card.” Envy’s gaze moved to slightly past her ear and then continued, “She talked about what was going to happen in Lab 5 when we’d meet.”

            “You kicked Ed in the face?”

            “Multiple times!” Envy replied with a laugh. “And no, I didn’t wash my feet. Let’em get foot-and-mouth disease.”

            Sheska giggled, relieved the homunculi seemed no longer troubled. She found it rather odd that his moods seemed to shift quickly but reasoned the situation played an important factor. Why stay upset when there were other things to use that energy for?

            “Huh. So this vision was just another peek into the past.

            Envy nodded, “Still pretty informative, wasn’t it.”

            “I finally got a name of the person we’re off to see.”

            “Yeah.”

            “And I learned more about you.”

            “How are you so sure?” Envy purred with a mischievous grin. “I could have been lying.”

            “Just a feeling.”

            “Care to share?” he asked good-naturedly adding with an impish smile. “Or do I have to do fashion news again?”

            Sheska paused to think about it. Yet another hunch told her to refuse while something else told her to shock him once again. But that smug side didn’t have to deal with an irate immortal. _However_ …

            She nervously bit her lip, making her decision and trusting her judgment.

            “Something just tells me that you have a connection to the Elrics that, though I’m very curious about, I refuse to delve into.” Sheska blithely mentioned with a shrug, “I’m far more enjoying the atmosphere right now than to bring up a subject that’ll sure to tork you off.”

            Envy laughed, “Yer learning.”


	19. Chapter 19

            Greed brought many a man down. It toppled empires, sparked hundred of wars throughout history. Killed millions, even those not a victim to it. But today? Greed would be a worthy aid to accomplish a near impossible goal.

            “So let me get this straight.” Said a dark haired man. He wore simple attire of black, the sole luxury a dark vest with a fuzzy collar and sunglasses perched on his nose.

            “Envy, _of all people_ , stole something of yours and you want _me_ to bring it back.” The homunculus known as Greed laughed, “I think you know what I’m about to ask: what’s in it for me?”

            From the shadows of the richly adorn room, a low sultry chuckle answered him and a smooth feminine voice replied.

            “What I seek is a young lady who has the power of foresight. I’m sure you know the implications of possessing one with such ability.”

            The woman in the room saw the moment when the homunculi’s mind began to race with many greedy thoughts. He chuckled and shrugged.

            “What’s to stop me from pullin’ the same stunt as the Abomination and running off with this girl?” Greed asked with a cocky grin. “I’m greedy as hell as you well know.”

            “But you’re also intelligent. You know I still have the advantage in numbers.” She countered. “You are just _one_ homunculus with chimera underlings while I still control five homunculi. You know very well how that fight will end.”

            “Heh. Fair enough.” Greed chuckled. “So where can I find your little traitor and his girlfriend?”

            A stack of papers flew out from the shadows and landed at Greed’s feet. The homunculi bent down and picked up the package, examining them with bemusement.

            “Train tickets and money. How generous of you.”

            “Remember, my generosity only goes so far.” Dante told him. “If you fail, your punishment _this time_ will not be simple imprisonment.”

            An hour later, Greed returned to the abandoned store him and his chimeras had taken over. His mood was foul and he tersely told his crew they were leaving immediately before going off to be alone.

            “What do you suppose happened?” the dog chimera Dorochet asked as he snatched up his sword and tied it to his belt. “Boss gets a mysterious phone call, heads immediately out and comes back in a bad mood.”

            “Must be a woman.” Lizard chimera Bido replied with a reptilian grin. “Only a woman ‘d be able to cause something like that.”

            The lone female chimera, Marta who was combined with a snake while still a young blond woman, gave Bido a dark look. Her slender body coiled and was ready to strike if her fellow reptile insulted her gender again.

            “It’s none of our business what he does and with who.” the large bull chimera known as Law told them hefting a large hammer onto his shoulder. “What matters is we do as Greed says.”

            “But you do wonder, don’t you?” Marta asked with a snake like smile.

* * *

           

            Envy woke with a jolt the following morning long before the sun even considered rising. He stood and gazed at the star-studded lapis sky above him. Listened to the soft sound of Sheska’s even breathing combining with a choir of crickets. All was serene.

            So what caused him to snap awake so suddenly?

            _“Do homunculi sleep?”_

_Yes they do_ , he remembered telling that innocently curious little girl fondly. She stood with her hands behind her ruffled red skirt, rocking on the heels of her brand new shiny dress shoes. Her wide eyes filled with wonder, Envy recalled and her cute little mouth opened in an amazed ‘oh’.

_“But they don’t need sleep to live, right?” the little girl frowned. “So why do you sleep?”_

He remembered smiling, truly smiling at the inquisitive petite scamp and ruffled her dark curls, much to her displeasure.

_“To dream. The older one gets, the more there is to remember and **that** is what a homunculus dreams.”_

_“When I die, will you dream of me?”_

He swung her into the circle of his arms and whispered into her sweet smelling hair.

_“You won’t die.”_

            Envy smashed his fist into the ground, crumbling rocks and creating a crater two inches deep in the earth around him. The sound of the punch was deafening and thrust Sheska sharply into consciousness.

            “What’swrong, trouble?” she gasped, her muscles tense and eyes flitting from one area of darkness to another.

            Envy flopped into the hole he created with a long disgruntled sound. He clenched his fists into his hair and glared at the sky above him.

            “It was nothing!” He groaned aggravated with himself. Tangled thoughts of embarrassment and frustration wove through his head. Envy wasn’t surprised when Sheska’s head hovered into view, her face a mask of concern and anxiety. It was rather touching…. _however that didn’t mean he’d have to like it._

            “Go away.” Envy growled rubbing his eyes then rested his hands where they lay. He heard her huff and the sound of dirt, probably her childishly stomping her foot. The image almost made Envy smile.

            “Sure I’ll go away. I’ll just march my happy patootie back to Central… _oh wait,_ I’m being hounded and have to stay here and deal with a hormonal teenager!” Sheska screamed. “And _don’t_ tell me you’re four billion years old because you _look eighteen_!!”

            Envy chuckled and smiled widely, “Sure, let’s go with that.”

            Sheska snorted, “And there you go with that grin again. You really were eighteen when you kicked the bucket. Wanna tell me how?”

            “Hung myself with a spaghetti noodle.”

            “ _No_. Try again.”

            “Would you believe a random unspecified hunting accident?”

            “No.”

            “What about a bad case of gas? Like really, _really_ bad gas”

            “You’re not even trying anymore.”

            He chuckled and peeked out at her from between his fingers.

            “Metal poisoning.”

            “You know if you don’t want to tell me how you died you can always say so instead of lying.” Sheska said rolling her eyes and Envy dropped his hands away from his face.

            “I figured you were quick enough to realize that on your own.” He responded with a shrug. “Guess I overestimated your intelligence.”

            “I’m not the one who looks like they stuck their finger in a light socket.” She shot back pointing at his messy hair. Envy swung up onto his feet with a smirk.

            “Well since it seems we’re both wide awake, let’s get moving.” He told her and began cleaning up their camp site.

            “Way to avoid the issue.” She muttered and screamed at his back, “Y’crazy shifty psychopath!”

            “Four-eyed bibliophile!”

            “Two-faced hedgehog!” Sheska shot back and Envy smiled as he kicked dirt over the fire.

            “You’re getting better with your insults.” He giggled. “I haven’t had this much fun since...”

            Sheska saw his face turn somber and she could only guess what caused it. She was content to let him seethe in silence, never willing to open up to the likes of her.  But then… he surprised her.

            “The Master took Loria in shortly after she killed her mother whose name in case you didn’t know was _also_ Nicollete.” Envy revealed and Sheska nodded in acknowledgment that she did know her name. “She had stupidly revealed that her powers of foresight would pass along to Lori and the Master came up with a plan to raise the baby to serve her plans. Almost worked too except the Master forgot a very important and valuable rule.”

            “And what’s that?”

            “It’s kinda pointless lying to a psychic.” He answered with a smirk as she rolled up her sleeping gear. “Sooner or later they’re going to have a vision and every little fib, each deceitful word will be discovered and odds are they’re gonna be a tad offended.”

            “Was Loria?” she cautiously asked.

            Unconsciously his brows furrowed and he took a moment to pause in deep contemplation. Envy took the rolled up bundle from Sheska and wrapped the cord around it securely. She saw the muscles of his jaw work and then with a jolt their eyes met.

            “Seemed like it. In hindsight, I can see just how long she’d been plotting her escape. Books on animal tracking. Edible forest food, _heh_ even  ‘Drachma: A Novel of Surviving Disgrace.’” He said quietly. “Odd choice that last one, but seeing how she was raised by an evil long-lived alchemist and her band of murderous monsters, an angry pseudo self-help book would definitely help with getting some confidence to run away.”

            Sheska gave it a moment’s thought before answering.

            “I don’t think she was mad at you. The first time you and Nicollete met, didn’t you and her play a chess game her mother left unfinished. She taught her the game for _you_. _Her_ _special_ _someone_.”

            A smile teased Envy’s lips.

            “I still shot her and tore her husband to pieces.” He pointed out with vengeful delight. “That’s not something a _special_ _someone_ would do.”

             “Fine fine, no more _touchy feely crap_.” Sheska rolled her eyes, “I can take a hint you know.”

            “Good to know.”


	20. Chapter 20

            “I have _ne-ver_ …got seen cuddling a book.”

             “You’re a jerk. I have never…slept with a married person.”

            “Don’t blame me, she lied.”

            Sheska swiveled quickly, her mouth dropping open and Envy shrugged matter-of-factly.

            As they walked toward the bustling town they spied in the distance, the silence of the trip became unbearable. It began almost offhandedly, Envy asked if she’d ever had parfait and she answered no. Then Sheska asked if he had read a particular book to which he replied yes.

            Over the past hour, seemingly random questions gradually transformed into an impromptu game of “I have never.” And each of them was learning more about their travel companion the further the game went.

            Envy learned that though Sheska read any book she could get her hands on, she preferred romance. In contrast, she ascertained Envy’s own reading preference was mystery. Sheska also learned that Envy’s favorite color was not green as she previously thought but blue just like her. They both tended to avoid fights, something that surprised Sheska when he told her.

            But despite all the things they had in common, there were very many differences between them. He grew up rich, she was poor. He was flamboyant and outgoing, she was reserved and self-conscious. He was a quick thinker in a bind and she obviously was not.

            “I have never stripped for cash.” Envy said snapping Sheska from her thoughts.

            “Does that mean you’ve stripped for reasons other than money?” she chuckled and the look she received was decidedly X-rated. Her face turned red as a smile eased across is face.

            “Take it how you want.”

            “Choco fiend.” Sheska muttered avoiding her gaze.

            “Literary nut.” He shot back with good humor.

            They walked for a few moments of silence, watching as the tiny buildings transformed from vague doll like structures into a town full of humans and vice.

            “I have never been in a strip club.”

            “They’re ok.” Envy told her. “It’s just like a theater, only the show is wilder and the actors are scantily clad.”

            Sheska smiled, “ _That_ sounds interesting.”

            “Wanna stop at one?” Envy inquired innocently and cackled at the look of unmitigated horror on her face at such a scandalous thought.

            “Okay, no. I ha-ve never had a beer.”

            “Seriously?” Sheska exclaimed incredulously. “You never drank? Or got drunk?”

            “Oh no, I’ve had alcohol… _can’t get drunk though…_ ” Envy snickered. “But I’m more a wine or hard liquor kinda guy.”

            And strangely she could picture him in a candle lit room with a glass of red wine, draped crossways in a plush chair and a thick hardback in his lap. Lightly holding the delicate flute full of red liquid and read with a faint smile on his lips.

            “Any favorites?”

            “An Aerugo wine from 1773.” Envy answered. “I had some malt whiskey of the same year that came from Drachma that was pretty good but the bourbon was awful.”

            “Not a bourbon man?”

            Sheska watched her innocent question have the same faint knee jerk reaction she witnessed when she mentioned she was raised by her mother. Envy quickly hid the reaction as he did before but she knew.

            _What does bourbon and single mothers have in common,_ Sheska wondered as they came nearer to the grand arch of the town’s entrance. _What is it about them that has Envy shook up even a little?_

            Her thoughts and concerns were interrupted as she noticed a group of three men and a woman lurking just outside town. She saw Envy tense and move imperceptibly in front of her and to her left. His hand brushed hers fleetingly and she knew it was a warning to beware of the four.

            The largest man was dressed in the blue uniform of the military. His face was rugged and sharp angles shaped by white sideburns and matching long hair pulled back at his neck. It was him that first noticed Envy and Sheska alerting the rest.

            Next to the large man was a short man with swept back brown hair and piercing blue eyes that missed no movements. His clothes seemed to be a merging of the Amestris uniform and that of an Ishvalan consisting of brown leather boots, loose blue pants and a white tunic over a tight black shirt. In his hands, he carried a sheathed sword and was perceptibly ready to draw it.

            The single woman in the group had a lithe figure and short blond hair with a single long stray strand that touched the plain side of her youthful face. On the other side along her jaw were two red slashes that trailed down to form a tribal like tattoo on her shoulder. Her clothes were blue uniform pants cinched tightly with a brown belt and a black tank top. As Sheska and Envy walked, she toyed with the knife strapped at her chest.

            The final member sent eerie shivers down Sheska’s spine. Was it the familiar tight near black leather clothing? The rebellious flair of a white fur-lined vest, unruly straps on his wrist or the casual round sunglasses? His wild dark hair seemed as normal as anyone else’s, though it did make him seem paler. But the shark-like grin spread across his face, wider than what was natural clued Sheska in more than the bright red ouroboros on the back of his hand that this man was _not_ natural.

            “Well hello Abomination!” the homunculi greeted Envy as him and Sheska paused a distance away from him and his crew.

            “Hello yourself Ultimate Shield.” Envy replied and Greed chuckled.

            At that moment Sheska felt an icy fear she had never felt before. She recalled his words about this foe and wondered if Greed and Envy’s Master were not on good terms, _why was he here_?

            “A certain person told me you went and stole something from them.” Greed said casually and Sheska felt as if her breath was cut off when the homunculi’s hidden gaze landed on her. “She doesn’t look like much.”

            “Yeah and I don’t either but we know better, don’t we Greed.” Envy replied and cut his eyes toward the three at Greed’s back. “Nice of you to bring the circus.”

            The swordsman and the woman angrily drew their blades and Envy moved defensively in front of Sheska with a bloodthirsty grin. But before anything more could occur, Greed motioned to the two to put their blades away.

            “Marta, Dorochet, _sticks and stones_.” He told the duo who glared at the smirking homunculus but none the less did as their leader bid. Only then did Greed turn his attention back to Envy.

            “Did you _really_ have to start crap?” he asked with a dismayed shake of his head. “We didn’t come here to fight.”

            “ _Oh_? So you didn’t get marching orders from a certain alchemist and came here to nab the girl like some twisted present?” Envy popped off then rolled his eyes. “’Cause _really_. I would have thought after being sealed in a prison for more than a century that you’d finally get the idea. _She’s not interested_.”

            “I was more interested in finding out why _you,_ of all people _,_ would double-cross her like this.” Greed retorted and smiled sinisterly. “Because isn’t she _the name for God on yours lips and heart?_ ”  
            Envy’s jovial expression stilled and grew serious. It was that outwardly serene expression Sheska had seen just once and grew to fear. He wasn’t scrutinizing Greed as he was Sheska that one time. This relaxed composure was a sign something far more fatal and lethal. It was clear Envy was pondering in a quite indifferent manner how to dissect the homunculi.

            “Your hubris is a surprise there.” Envy said cheerfully. “Didn’t know pride was your schick now.”

            “Oh no. This has nothing to do with pride or hubris.” Greed argued. “It’s plain simple _greed_. I want it all, money, power.. even knowledge!”

            Envy laughed richly and Sheska didn’t know whether to relax or not.

            “If you have to know, it has to do with a promise.” He told the other homunculi. “Sheska here got her powers from another and that person and I had a deal. I keep Miss Prude there safe…”

            “Alcoholic drag queen.” Sheska muttered and without missing a beat Envy retorted.

            “ _Second gen tree hugger_. And I get to see someone I’ve been looking for a long time.”

            “So those powers can be transferred, huh.” Greed’s mind began turning over the possibilities with that information. He now understood what Dante wanted with the girl.

            “I don’t know how she did it though.” Sheska interjected before Envy could speak. When Greed’s attention returned to her, she was determined not to reveal her fear of him.

            “You know how to use them?” he asked of her and Sheska shrugged.

            “More or less.”

            Greed’s shark like smile widened, “Show me.”

            Sheska closed her eyes but Envy dared not take his eyes off the chimeras or the other homunculi. Else he would have grabbed a hold of and shook some sense into her.

            _I need to know about Greed,_ she told that secret part of herself. _Something._ She filled her mind with questions, hoping to lure out an answer and vision. _Why was he called Greed? What did he do to get imprisoned? How did he get confined?_

            “What was it Envy said?” she whispered to herself. “A twisted present. She’s not interested?”

            Sheska felt a stab of pain before hearing a faint whisper. Quiet. Powerful. Knowledgeable.

            _“Dante and Greed were lovers”_

            She felt the world tilt and her knees go weak. Someone cried out her name, then warmth and strong arms. There were footsteps and angry voices. Her vision blurred and Sheska’s head felt unexpectedly light.

            “Hey.”

            Someone was patting her on the cheek.

            “She do that a lot?”

            The voice of an unfamiliar female.

            “Oh go stick your tongue in a light socket, y’dried up eel.”

            Envy.

            Sheska blinked and soft shapes surrounded by halos of light sharpened into figures then into people. Surrounding her was the chimeras with mild concerned looks on their faces. At one side crouched Greed and Envy, whose arms she lay in.

            “You awake?” Greed asked, his glasses pushed up on top of his head. Close as he was Sheska could see his violet eyes were edged by a ring of indigo.

            “Yeah. Sorta.” Sheska replied and Envy eased her back onto her feet but didn’t remove his supportive arms.

            “You’re an idiot.” He snapped as she rubbed her aching head. “A stupid, dimwitted _idiot_!”

            “But at least I proved that I can use my new powers to Greed.” Sheska feebly replied and she felt the grip on her arms tighten.

            “By nearly falling on your face?!” Envy snapped and Greed chuckled. Envy swung his angry gaze toward him. “Shut up.”

            “You’re acting very uncharacteristic.” He told him. “So protective and _caring_.”

            “Greed, do you want to hear about my vision?” Sheska said before Envy could deliver a cutting reply or physically assault the other homunculi.

            “Go ahead, shoot.”

            “You and Dante were lovers.”

            Sheska almost laughed in triumph at the sheer look of disbelief on Greed’s face. His jaw hung agape, eyes wide. But Greed wasn’t the only person who reacted with shock. Envy stared at Sheska, complete surprise on his face.

            “And I know something else.” She said with pride. “There’s seven of you homunculi, each named after the seven deadly sins.”

            “How did you guess?” Greed asked with unnatural casualness. “Another vision?”

            “No. Just logical since I heard about Wrath and met Envy, Lust, Gluttony, and now Greed.”

            “I like her, she’s shrewd.” The sin laughed and Envy rolled his eyes.

            “Can we leave now or did you want something other than the _joy_ of knocking Sheska out?” the bristly haired young man demanded.

            “All right, I came to make a deal with you.” Greed revealed. “You do something for me and I’ll cover for you with that person.”

            “Just say her name.” Envy snapped. “Lady Dante of Guelph.”

            “Is she really a Lady?” Sheska whispered in Envy’s ear.

            “ _Yes_.” He answered and then demanded of Greed, “What do you want?”

            Greed pulled out a slip of paper from within his vest and handed it to Envy. Sheska couldn’t see what was on it but from the mixture of aversion and disbelief twisting his features, it wasn’t good.

            “Are you _serious_?!” Envy exclaimed crumpling up the piece of paper.

            “You’re the perfect person for it.” Greed argued. “I know you can do it, it’s not that difficult.”

            “If you talked to _Dante_ then you know I don’t have my full abilities. There’s no way I can do it!” Envy retorted. “I _might_ still have some enhanced strength and agility and I can change my voice but _that_?”

            “There’s one form.” The other sin said with a disturbing leer. “I know you wouldn’t be caught dead in it but it’s one that wouldn’t be hard to use in your _weakened_ state.”

            Sheska was alarmed to witness Envy turn ashen. The muscle in his jaw flexed as if holding raw emotion in check. His face clouded with uneasiness and then he glanced at Sheska herself.

            Unexpectedly, his distraught expression melted away. To Sheska, Envy seemed to gather himself together, draw together every bit audacity and nerve he had. His shoulders straightened and he lifted his chin, meeting Greed’s smug gaze straight on.

            “I do this one _bit of business_ for you and you’ll misdirect the others away from the girl and me?” he asked with a confident air ruined only by the swift appearance by the telltale overly bright smile. “It’s a deal!”


	21. Chapter 21

  

            The stench of cigarettes and sweaty bodies assaulted the nose while raucous music and low lights stabbed ear and eye equally. Through the smoke, outlines of tables and plush seats surrounded an illuminated stage that bore a metal pole at the end.

            “This is a strip club.”

            “It is at that.” Envy sighed scanning the room. Obscure figures paced the shadows along the stage. Waiting with baited breath for the obscene and lascivious show that would be revealed. _He was not looking forward to this…_

            “Why are we at a strip club with the shark dude and his merry men?” Sheska asked in a flat tone before her eyes went wide and she hissed, “Don’t tell me you’re making _me_ …”

            “This happens to be a place for _lady’s_ entertainment, _not_ a gentlemen’s club.” Envy told her in a patient tone. He cleared his throat and avoided her gaze, “The person who is performing is...”

            About that time Greed came back from the depth of the bar and sauntered up to Envy, clapping him on the shoulder in a friendly fashion.

            “Just got done signing you up so we can all just take a seat with the rest and wait.”

            “Well thanks Greed,” Envy said with a merry grin as the other sin led Sheska and him to the booth in the back. “ _Thank you_ for sparing me the embarrassment of putting my name down for Amateur Night at _Dick's_ Cabaret.”

            Sheska’s mind whirled and she stammered for a moment before being able to spit out coherent words.

            “ _You’re_ stripping?”

            “ _No Sheska_ , I thought I’d just hop on stage and do some vocal impersonations for the chicks in the audience.” Envy snapped. “See how they’d like a change of pace.”

            He irritably plopped himself down next to Marta, leaving no room for Sheska and forced her to scoot in and sit next to Law and Greed.

            “Can’t wait to see your routine.” Marta purred with a snake like smile. “Greed hinted it’ll be a winner.”

            The angry homunculi nearly lunged over the table at the other sin, “If you told them a single thing about…”

            Greed draped his arm around Sheska and laughed, “Don’t worry, I left it a surprise. Figured you’d want to floor the girls.”

            Anger drained from Envy’s face and was replaced by... _Is that_ _horror_ , Sheska wondered. Greed saw his reaction and stared at him wordlessly. He shook his head and somehow pulled out a cigarette from his vest pocket.

            “She seriously doesn’t know?” he asked placing the cancer stick to his lips. Law produced a lighter from somewhere and lit it for his boss.

            “She knows a bit.” Envy revealed. “She’s heard me talk, figured out bits and pieces here and there.”

            Greed seemed obviously surprised and looked down at the girl scrunching up her nose at the scent of smoke so close to her.

            “So what all do you know about him?” He asked as Sheska placed her hand over her nose and mouth.

            “I’ll tell you once you put that thing out.” Came her muffled reply. “You may like the odor of burnt paper and _ass_ but I don’t.”

            Greed laughed as he butted out his smoke on his swiftly blackened hand. Sheska tried not to gawk as she watched it transform back into flesh much like Envy changed forms.

            “Cig’s out.”

            “Well.” She coughed and waved away the residual cigarette smoke. “Envy lies, he adores chocolate, smiles when he’s upset or gets mad. Doesn’t know what to do with kindness.”

            “I meant have you ever seen what he looks like. _Really_ looks like.” Greed broke in politely.

            “ _Oh_ … not really. I just know he has blond hair and _says_ he’s hot.”

            “I never said I was hot, I said _others_ thought I was.” Envy corrected which seemed to pique Marta’s interest if the expression on her face was any indication.

            “You think so too!”

            “What does it matter?” Envy shouted back. “Uptight spinster!”

            “Blond bimbo!”

            Greed’s shoulders shook with silent laughter at the back and forth between the two.

            “Children, now don’t make Daddy Greed put you in time out.”

            There was a blur of black and one moment Envy was on one side of the table then the next he was on the table pressing his forearm against Greed’s throat. Scalding fury etched every line on his face.

            “If you _ever_ call yourself that again I will tear off your head …and then rip _the other one_ off.” Envy growled, his voice darkening to a distorted version of his natural voice.

            A warning voice whispered in her head to remain quiet, to allow some else to defuse the situation but she let out a tiny unconscious squeak and his fiery orange eyes impaled her with their fury.

            _His eyes changed_ , she realized with a gasp. _They were violet but now…is that his actual eye color?_

            “Your eyes are beginning to bleed together.” Greed warned and Envy’s gaze snapped back to the homunculi. Envy glanced down at his arm and scowled as he saw a protective black shield beneath. He returned to his seat and kept his gaze averted.

            Greed nudged Sheska who jumped and blinked up at him.

            “A little known fact, Envy has _issues_. You should ask him sometime when he isn’t _nervous_.” He told her and everyone at the table began to relax. “Another little known gem: Envy hates the way he looks.”

            “Shut up.” The person in question snarled and Sheska slumped lower in her seat. Greed slipped his arm around her pulled the former librarian up.

            “He much more prefers looking like a pine cone dressed in drag.” He revealed to her. “Pretty weird huh?”

            There was a thunk beneath the table and Greed snorted as Envy let out a pained hiss.

            “You ought to have known better than to kick me, Envy. I _do_ have thick skin.” The shark like teeth reappeared as he cooed, “Now how do you suppose an injured foot will affect the competition?”

            “You know, somehow, I’m going to find a way to knock your teeth down your throat.” Envy replied sweetly.

            “For now you can find a way backstage, I can see the bartender gathering up the competition.” Greed informed him and it was Envy’s turn to slump in his seat.

            “Can I trust you to not run off with the girl while I’m doing this?” he inquired and Greed pulled Sheska almost into his lap.

            “Sure. When _else_ can get a chance to see you do something mortifying?”

            Envy snorted and motioned to Sheska, “Hey hackneyed, come here for a moment.”

            “Sure, Mr. bump-and-grinder.” She shot back as Greed slid out of the seat and went nearly to his knees with silent laughter. She followed Envy some ways from the table and then once they were alone, he finally spoke.

            “If I were to ask you a favor, would you do it?” he asked bluntly.

            She thought for a brief moment. There really wasn’t any question as to what her answer would be.

            “If this favor happens to be to keep my glasses off while you _‘dance’_ the answer is yes.”

            The relief on Envy’s face was almost laughable. Sheska couldn’t help to compare the sin to a child who had been told he was getting a candy bar. A mixture of amazement and pleasure, but most of all, trust slipped past his iron guard. The beginning of a smile tipped the corners of his mouth as a line of white light passed over his form. But he turned just a second in time to avoid exposing his face.

            Watching Envy walk away, tawny hair flowing down past his marked shoulders Sheska couldn’t help feel warmed by the small gesture. On that one point, insignificant as it was, he didn’t lie. It filled her with a tiny hope that perhaps there would be more instances. That perhaps she could finally know the man who swore to let nothing harm her.

_Maybe_

            Seated back at the table, Sheska let the conversation flow around her as she let her mind wander. Formless recollections drifted in and out her mind. Her first day as a librarian, the joy she felt after discovering her place. Book after book readily devoured, their words blurring together.

            People and faces of people she would be unlikely to ever see again. Her mother, Lieutenant Ross at work, Edward and his brother. Other faces floated by, ones touched by death. Her father, now merely a shadow. Her goldfish Ahab that she lost when she was a child. Nicollete and her whispered promise.

            _“A past memory so haunting and sincere. A former life forgotten only this year. Let me comfort and hold you ever so dear. Poor little creature that our world will fear.”_ Sheska murmured. Her musings were interrupted by a male voice.

            “Nice poem.” Greed commented. “Yours?”

            “Oh no.” she stammered noticing to her humiliation everyone’s eyes rested on her. “A girl Envy and I knew wrote it during therapy. Everyone thought she was insane because she hacked out her eyes but...”

            “She’s the one who Envy had the deal with? The one who gave you the psychic thing.”

            “And seeing the past and present.” She added with a wry grin. “But yeah, her.”

            “Were Envy and her close?”

            “More or less, her mother and him were closer. I get the impression she was the closest thing he had to a sister.” Sheska shrugged. “But Dante more than likely ordered him to kill her, so he did.”

            “Sounds like something she’d do.”

            “Say Greed, how long have you known Envy?” Sheska asked and the homunculus chuckled.

            “A _very_ long time. Centuries.”

            “How many?”

            “Close to three.” He answered and beamed with pride. “I may not be the eldest but I was in the top five.”

            “But aren’t homunculi created by failed human transmutations?” she asked mulling over the information. “With so many it sounds like someone was failing intentionally.”

            Greed laughed, “Well aren’t you quick. Gluttony and me were intentional but I heard the previous Lust was created by some stalker who lost his obsession when she off’ed herself.”

            He glanced around the room just as the first amateur began his exotic dance before leaning down toward Sheska.

            “Don’t let Envy know I told you this but rumor is his own father was one who created him then called him some nasty stuff afterwards.”

            Sheska’s eyes widened as she recalled her first vision. A voice a mixture of horror and revulsion.

            “ ** _Monster_ , _Abomination_** _!_ ”

            “It was his _father._ No _wonder_ he flinched.” She whispered completed appalled and crossed her arms in front of herself. “Gah, _he’s_ the monster, not Envy! … _Jerk_.”

            “I believe our mutual _acquaintance_ would use something more colorful to describe him.” Greed replied his lips quirking with a humor.

            “Did you ever meet this creep?!”

            He shook his head as Marta slithered off toward the stage to slip the dancers money.

            “Can’t say that I have.”

            Sheska seethed and shook in silent rage at the faceless man who would be as callous and heartless to hurt Envy in a moment when he was the most vulnerable. Greed tapped Dorochet, pointing at the adorably irate human beside him and they shared a silent laugh.

            “Why don’t you relax and check out the dancers with Marta.” The dog chimera suggested and Sheska did a double take. Her lips parted in surprise as her cheeks darkened.

            “Wha-I can’t. It…men _stripping_?” she stuttered much to the men’s amusement. The homunculi stepped out of the booth and pulled Sheska to her feet. Before she realized his intention, Greed had dragged her up to the stage and left her with a handful of ones next to Marta.

            “Hey, according to the list Envy’s performing after the next guy.” She told the human, her gaze never budging from the stage and waving a bill above her head.

            Sheska looked passed the man grinding against the pole and saw the white board posting everyone’s name. Sure enough after a man calling himself Kelly Powder surrounded by cute little green hearts was the name Envy.

            _Looks like he wasn’t lying about women finding him handsome if those hearts are any indication_ , she thought with a snort. Out of nowhere she recalled her game of ‘I have never’ with Envy and almost laughed at loud.

            _Looks like neither one of us can say anything.  I can’t say I haven’t been to a strip club and Envy can’t say he’s never stripped for money._


	22. Chapter 22

            Kelly Powder’s idea of stripping was to drop his pants and hop around the stage, so Envy was up sooner than expected.

            Just as she promised, Sheska removed her glasses the moment his name was called. But she sensed he was there and saw her, his eyes burning her skin with their intensity.

            Sheska even managed to enjoy the striptease despite her blindness with a little help from Marta. Right in the middle of the dance, the snake chimera grabbed a hold of Sheska’s arm, elbowed them both toward the front and took the girl’s hand waving it above her, a bill between her fingers.

            She could hear his laughter, unexpectedly genuine and watched as a blurry shape gracefully strode her way. Marta let out a jubilant whoop and slipped the money between Sheska’s lips just as Envy reached the end of the stage. The sightless girl blinked up at him, blind to the lazy grin that curved his mouth.

            The scent of pine surrounded her and she squeezed her eyes shut as a golden curtain of hair filled her vision. She felt a brief innocent press of his lips against her own before he drew away with a low chuckle that made Sheska’s insides jangle with excitement.

            The crowd that was silent for a pure moment before suddenly erupting into rowdy screams and cheers. More women began placing money in their mouths and in their low-cut shirts, all for the chance that the sensual creature on stage would bless them as well.

            Marta saw the former librarian wobble and supported Sheska just as her knees buckled. Across the room, Greed motioned to her and Marta led the reeling human back to the table and into the seat.

            “Well _that_ was something.” Greed commented as Marta fanned the human with a plastic drink menu. “Are you _sure_ Envy’s just keeping a promise?”

            Sheska blinked, pulling her drifting thoughts together at the sound of Greed’s voice. To her humiliation, she found herself once again the center of attention.

            “That’s always what he said.” She weakly reply.

            “Looks to me he might like you.” Dorochet pointed out and Law silently nodded in agreement.

            The thought floored her and she sputtered for a reasonable explanation as to why Envy would _kiss_ her. He was just being outrageous like always. _Greed mentioned he was acting odd._ He was messing with her again. _Envy never actually did anything to her, it was all verbal._ It was an act, a way to win the prize money. _But wouldn’t Greed know best what was an act?_

“Not necessarily.” The sin said to his men and Sheska waited to hear more. “Envy _is_ a consummate actor, his abilities… _is he **slithering** across the stage_?”

            Marta jerked her eyes back to the show and saw the homunculi roll onto his back from his stomach and smoothly stretch his feet over his head, turning over onto his feet. Tone abdominal muscles flexed and she felt the need to whistle.

            “Think if I asked I could get a lap dance?” the chimera murmured and tensed when Greed burst out laughing.

            “Not a chance.” He told her harshly observing Sheska’s disgruntled look and asked. “What’s with you?”

            Sheska toyed with her glasses and cleaned them with the edge of her shirt before mumbling a reply.

            “I …I kinda want to see it.” She blushed. “Marta doesn’t appear to be the type to easily impress…”

            “Nope.” Marta told her. “But… _holy moley he just flipped off the pole_!”

            “And now he’s climbing it.” Law added indifferently.

            “See? It’s not fair.” Sheska pouted. “My first time in a strip club and I can’t see anything.”

            “You could always break that little promise I heard you make.” Greed replied. “Put on your glasses and see what you’re missing.”

            “No.” she was quick to say. “He asked me for a favor.”

            “With good reason.”

            “Why’s that?” Marta asked and the sin pointed at the stage.

            “Look close. What do you see?”

            Marta squinted up at the stage, studying the homunculus freely. Something about him seemed familiar. The hair, the facial structure..if it were a bit rounder.. she gasped.

            “He looks like…!”

            Greed placed a finger to his lips and jerked his head toward Sheska. Marta acknowledged him with a curt nod.

            “Envy looks like someone you know? That _I_ might know?” Sheska asked and Greed weighed his response.

            “Can’t say.” He told her and shrugged, “Call it what you will, old times sake, loyalty to a fellow immortal but _I’m not telling_.”

            “Why not?!”

            “Because it’s Envy’s choice.” Greed told her as Envy’s song ended and the crowd cried out for more. “Now I haven’t known you for long but you seem like a nice girl. Don’t you think it’s _impolite_ to pry into other people’s business?”

            “I suppose.” Sheska replied sulking and Greed touched her elbow lightly. She looked up at him blindly in question.

            “He’ll tell you when the time’s right.”

            “How do _you_ know?” she asked dryly and Greed chuckled.

            “Because he likes you.” He revealed to her. “Envy wouldn’t have gotten on stage if he didn’t like you just a little.”

            Sheska was astonished at the sense of fulfillment she felt at his words. Little incidents became all the clearer to her. The little game they played calling each other names. All the times he cautioned her against trusting him. The innocent gestures like securing food and warmth for her began to make sense. If he didn’t care for her then he would have long since abandoned her.

            “So, what did I miss?”

            “Envy!” Sheska happily exclaimed as the homunculi reached over her and snatched the sunglasses right off Greed’s face.

            “I have to stay this way until the winner’s called.” He informed everyone climbing over the table and squeezing in between the two women. He slunk down in the seat before adding “But that doesn’t mean I have to make myself known.”

            “What do you mean by that?” Sheska asked before she heard a meek voice speak.

            “E-excuse me.”

            “And so it begins.” Envy muttered and thinly smiled at the two young women nervously standing at the booth. “Something we can help you two with?”

            “Um-m” one girl said clutching a slip of paper to her chest. Her friend nudged her and she pushed the piece of paper into Envy’s face.

            At the sudden move, the homunculi recoiled and uneasily took the periwinkle colored paper from the nervous girl. He unfolded it and glanced at the flowery script, smothering a mildly amused grin.

            “Call any time!” the girl friend told him with enthusiasm and dragged the other away with a giggle.

            Once the two were out of sight Envy’s lips thinned with annoyance and he let out a frustrated sigh.

            “And _this_ Greed, is why I don’t go out in this form.” He told the homunculi. “I keep getting phone numbers and women throwing themselves at me.”

            “I thought that was every guy’s dream.” Sheska blurted out and flushed when she felt the heat of his gaze.

            “Not if they hate the way they look.” Envy told her and she swore she saw what looked to be a wink. “A skilled actor can hide their reactions very well when little scholarly girls quiz others on his daddy issues.”

            Sheska flushed miserably, “You heard?” she gulped _“Everything?_ ”

            “Did I fail to mention that homunculi have good hearing?” he said. “Greed and I are just positively _sinful_.”

            “Don’t say it like that.” She responded with a shudder and Envy grinned.

            “What?” he asked innocently. “We are _deviant_ little creatures who’d just _love_ to _eat you up_.”

            Sheska let out a distressed squeak and furiously blushed. The trio of chimera and Greed continued to watch grinning silently.

            “Stop doing that!” she cried and there was a tingling in the pit of her stomach when he laughed.

            “Why? Because you think I sound _sexy_?”

            “Coffin-dodger!”

            “O~o nice one, but using insults is a poor way to evade questions.” He told her. “So _Sheska_ , is the reason you want me to quit because you think I sound _sexy?_ ”

            Red faced, Sheska opened her mouth to reply when a drink was set unexpectedly in front of Envy. The bemused drink slinger motioned toward the bar where a leggy red head stared with longing at him.

            “From the lady.” The older woman said before walking back to her post. Envy took up the drink and smelled the contents before pushing it away.

            “And this is how I got a taste for hard liquor.” He told everyone. “Women always order me cocktails with hidden messages for names. I’ve had a Wall banger, too much bang for me. I once had a Porn Star which was an _experience_. The RuPaul was a nice change.”

            Sheska began to zone out, letting her mind wander to other things when she heard her name called.

            “Oh _Sheska_ , would you like to have Sex on the Beach?”

            “ _What?!_ ” she exclaimed and everyone at the booth busted up laughing.

            “The drink.” Marta choked out pointing at the glass on the table. “That’s the name of _the drink_!”

            Sheska looked down at her lap with renewed humiliation and Envy took mercy on the poor girl.

            “I can’t believe you thought I was offering _that_. You at least deserve a bed for your first time.”

            “All of you are just messing with me.” She moaned resting her head on the table as everyone laughed again. “You are all mean and you Mr. Boozehound are the worst of them all.”

            “You’re just envious.” Envy told Sheska and so irritated by his mocking tone, she snatched up the highball glass and drank down the contents of the entire drink.


	23. Chapter 23

            She sat back in the booth feeling pretty proud of herself and savoring the shocked expressions on everyone’s faces. That was until the alcohol hit and she began to have the disturbing sensation of the room starting to spin.

            “Wow.” Greed said as Marta covered her mouth and Law winced. “I’d call you a lightweight but uh-h, there was alotta alcohol in that thing.”

            “And there might have been a roofie, never know with slutty red heads.” Envy added. “You feeling okay?”

            “Looks like this adventure took another of my firsts.” Sheska moaned laying her head down on the table, “First time running for my life. First time camping and in a strip club. Now first drink and first kiss.”

            “Well crap.” Envy muttered as Marta winced. “Really I’m not surprised but _crap_. Would you feel better if I told you I didn’t do that with anyone else?”

            “Why’s that? There wasn’t another _doormat_ in the crowd?”

            “Oh for Christ’s sake, she’s one of _those_ drunks.” He mumbled and told her louder, “I did it because it’s your first time in one of these and figured you’d want a show.”

            “If you wanted to give me a show, then you shouldn’t of asked me to take my glasses off.” Sheska shouted lifting her head up violently. She would have pitched out of the seat had not Greed pulled her against him.

            She pushed away from him and wobbled a bit before steadying herself and tearing back into Envy.

            “But no~o, you have to have _issues_ because you died of mercury poisoning and daddy didn’t _love_ you.”

            Then she turned to Greed, “And _you_! Yer gonna need that Ultimate Shield if you ever think ‘bout boning Dante.”

            Envy snickered, “That was mean.”

            “ _Mean_ is constantly lying or pretending to lie.” Sheska slurred squinting at the homunculus. “What is so hard about saying _I died of mercury poisoning when I was eighteen_? Or _I was raised by a demented psycho because my dad’s a jerk._ ”

            Outwardly, Envy appeared to be unbothered with her words resting his chin on his hand with a bemused smile on his lips. His body language said smug and collected but the small telltale things Sheska had learned said another.

            His smile a tad too wide and subtly forced. He kept brushing back an uncontrollable strand of hair. He was undoubtedly hiding his emotions better due to Greed’s presence but Envy could never hide from her.

            “You need to stop that.” Sheska told him matter-of-fact like. She pointed at him and Envy did his best not to laugh as her hand moved from his face to three inches on either side.

            “Friends don’t hush up stuff like that. You should talk to me… or to a shrink. A shrink would be better since you have _issues_.” She said and a giggle escaped the homunculi’s iron control. She waved around the room. “Everyone o’you have _issues_. Lust still has feelings for her Ishvalan lover. Wrath has _mommy_ issues. Sloth has postpartum psychosis.”

            “And _you_ are drunk far seeing.” Envy replied. “You are going to have a nasty headache in the morning if you don’t stop.”

            “ _You’re_ going to have a nasty headache!”

            Envy slapped his palm against his forehead and tried not to laugh as Greed and his crew had begun doing. It was at that moment another alcoholic beverage was laid on their table and Envy thunked his head against the table.

            “Would you get Miss Pickled here a glass of water?” he asked the bartender, his voice muffled by the table. “She may be a pain in my butt but she doesn’t deserve a hangover.”

            The older woman chuckled, “Sure but y’know you’re gonna break a few girls’ hearts.”

            Envy lifted his head up and smirked, “Must be genetic, my father was the same way.”

            “He’s a lowlife.” Sheska said with confidence and Envy nearly cracked up.

            “I’ll get that water for you.” The bar keep responded with amusement and walked back to her station.

            While Envy waited for the drunk human’s water, he examined the drink the woman left him. The glass was large and curved almost like a fat goblet. The drink itself was the color of watered down orange juice but smelled strongly of bananas and chocolate. When he shook the Hurricane glass and saw flecks of white, Envy groaned.

            “A funky monkey.” He said with an amused twist of his lips. “Why do I get the impression the young lady who sent this to me wants something X-rated?”

            “Because you are a pervert.” Sheska replied and finally Envy couldn’t help himself and burst out laughing. His laughter was fascinating, catching almost every woman’s immediate attention. Even the cold-blooded Marta’s eyes turned to him.

            “And _you_ are very drunk.” Envy countered.

            “It’s your fault.”

            “I didn’t force you to down that drink.” He said with a smile and a few women at the bar swooned.

            “You passive aguessively did.” Sheska argued and Envy’s shoulders silently trembled with mirth.

            “A guess sively? I may not be a literary nutcase like you but I know that’s not a word.”

            “You know what I mean!” she growled and he chuckled as Sheska’s water arrived.

            “Yes I do but you ought to have known I’d call you on your drunken slurring.” He turned to the bartender and thanked her then pushed the drink to Sheska.

            “Here. Bottoms up.”

            “Trying to get me to sober up, Mr. Immortal?” she asked and tipped the glass up to guzzle down the water before Envy’s hand locked around her wrist.

            “Sip it.” He told her gently. “You don’t want to end up sick, now do you?”

            With a look of utter concentration, Sheska reached out and toyed with a strand of his hair. She twirled it and relished the soft feel of it between her fingers. Blind as she was, Sheska missed the blush staining Envy’s cheeks.

            “You know for a guy who learned first aide from murdering people, you have a surprising soft side.”

            “I am a little world made cunningly.” He replied and a dreamy smile tilted Sheska’s lips.

            “But black sin hath betray'd to endless night.” She quoted back as she leaned closer, practically climbing into Envy’s lap and he leaned away.

            A look of panic replaced the blush on Envy’s face. It was almost laughable how quickly he released Sheska’s wrist and slid beneath the table popping back up between the two male chimera.

            Roles were reversed as the homunculi was the one who seemed nervous and lost, sitting stiffly in the booth with his hands clutched in his lap and Sheska was brass and in control.

            “Brown Bagger.” Envy said to her and she cackled.

            “What did you just tell me about using insults to avoid issues, top shot?” Sheska countered.

            For once Envy had no witty comeback and watched her like a caged animal, a sight that didn’t go unseen.

 


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The poem quoted is "Holy Sonnet V" by John Donne.

 

* * *

 

             “I knew you could do it.” Greed said clapping Envy on the back some hours later. “One thousand cens and tips!”

            “Congrats Greed, now keep your end of the deal.” The other homunculi replied deadpan and readjusted the passed-out human in his arms. Sheska buried her face against his throat and her breath sent uncomfortable shivers down Envy’s spine.

            “I will! Don’t get your skort in a bunch.” Greed noticed the anxious expression on his elder’s face and smothered a chuckle.

            “Why don’t you let Law carry the girl?” he told Envy jerking his head toward the big man that followed them at a distance.

            “Because he’s keeping your mutt and the reptile from falling on their faces.”

            Greed glanced back and saw Law had an arm around his two fellow chimera and kept their drunk swaying to a minimum. He shook his head with a smile full of dissatisfaction and irony.

            “Well they’re not going anywhere tonight. Why don’t we snag some rooms and head out in the morning?”

            “Because I’m broke and you’re greedy.” Envy argued. Greed stopped suddenly and snorted in exasperation.

            “I’ll _pay_ okay?” he told him adding mockingly. “Since you and her were quite the entertaining _couple_.”

            “Shut up.”

            Greed snickered and continued walking, forcing Envy to catch up, “What was that thing you two said to one another? Was that poetry?”

            “It’s a sonnet.” Envy corrected and glanced down at the slumbering woman. His mouth twisted derisively as he recalled the poem in which they both spoke.

            “ _I am a little world made cunningly of elements and an angelic sprite, but black sin hath betray'd to endless night my world's both parts, and oh both parts must die. You which beyond that heaven which was most high have found new spheres, and of new lands can write, pour new seas in mine eyes, that so I might drown my world with my weeping earnestly, or wash it, if it must be drown'd no more. But oh it must be burnt; alas the fire of lust and envy have burnt it heretofore, and made it fouler; let their flames retire, and burn me O Lord, with a fiery zeal of thee and thy house, which doth in eating heal_.”

            “It’s not very romantic.” Greed commented offhandedly. Envy blanched as he realized he had spoken aloud.

            “But even with all the religious talk, I keep getting the impression you got flirted with by four-eyes there.” He snickered.

            “She was drunk.” Envy firmly said, his expression a mask of stone.

            “And that matters why?”

            “Because she’s just a means to an end.”

            Greed snorted, “Like I believe _that_.”

            “Think what you want, you’ll do it anyway.” Envy snapped. “I’m doing a favor and getting what I want with it.”

            “That other psychic must have been something special if you’d go against you-know-who.”

            “Sorta.” Envy answered with a distant look. “Once upon a time, her mother thought of me as a brother.”

            “I can’t imagine you as someone’s brother.” Greed replied with a derisive grin and Envy’s mouth curved into an unconscious smile.

            “I was a good brother.”

            “But not anymore?”

            Envy’s expression hardened, “No.”

            “So where y’wanna crash?” Greed inquired changing the subject. “There’s some decent places here, you have anything in mind?”

            “Private, clean and has a functional bath.”

            Greed broke into an amused smile, “One bed or _two_.”

            “You pick, I’m going to head to the train station and eye the schedule.” Envy responded emotionless. He gave him a mercurial smirk adding, “No rest for the wicked, eh?”

            The motel was everything he asked for. The manager didn’t ask any questions about the unconscious female or the shady character with odd colored hair carrying her. Nor did he say anything about the high number of ones in the money he was paid.

            The inside of their room faintly smelled of crisp linens and lemon. The wallpaper was pale lavender and the two matching queen beds were soft as feathers. Envy knew this as fact because when Marta collapsed onto the bed, it dipped and wrapped around her.

            Sheska stirred briefly as Envy gently laid her next to Marta. Her eyes fluttered and a soft and affectionate curve touched her lips before she drifted back into slumber. Envy bowed his head, unaware of the tender way in which he looked at her and pulled the covers over her in a business-like manner.

            “I’m off.” He called out on his way out the door. “Don’t order too much room service, I refuse doing anymore stripteases for your amusement.”

            Greed tossed Envy a thick roll of money that the homunculi caught with one hand.

            “Go ahead and buy the tickets.” He instructed his elder. “That way we can make a quick getaway come morning and _she_ can’t weasel out any information if things go south.”

            Envy saluted Greed with two fingers and closed the door behind him.

            There was a startling difference between the club and the streets outside. Inside were bright colorful lights, dazzling and full of life. Lusty voices were lively and raucous, filling the air with the sense of warm humanity. Outside in the darkness of the town, the night was remote and cold. Voices and humanity faded the further Envy walked until there was no sound except the hushed crunch of his own footsteps.

            Loneliness was nothing new to him. He had spent the first half of his life isolated and alone as the only homunculus in existence. A freakish abomination of alchemy. But something about the slumbering town unnerved him on a level that was unfamiliar to him.

            Was it the muted lights of the street lamps that had him on edge? The fact that for the first time in days Sheska was not at his side? Or was it how often he had been forced to be in _that_ form?

            “No more.” He swore aloud. “I’m not going to be caught _dead_ in that form.”

            “Funny you should say that.”

            Envy had no chance to defend himself from the whip like tentacle of water that suddenly slammed into his midsection, sending him flying. He landed in a heap only to be thrown again, this time by a mass of concrete and gravel.

            His body was wracked with pain as bones struggled to mend and shredded muscle knit itself together. Envy wanted nothing more than to just lay there and let his body heal with the dregs of red stones but he heard his assailants walking toward him. Refusing to simply squirm on the ground waiting to die, Envy forced his arms to move and pushed himself to his feet.

            What welcomed him was one of his worst fears. A child and a woman, both sins like himself. The violent and the idle, Wrath and Sloth.

            Wrath’s form was that of a child close to the age of thirteen. Like other homunculi, his eyes were the color of amethysts. His dark hair was long and messy close to how Envy’s own was. His clothes were also like Envy’s. He wore form fitting shorts, a loose dark colored shirt and was bare foot save for a wrap around his right foot.

            It always struck Envy how much Sloth did and yet didn’t looked like Trisha Elric. Same facial structure. Same hair, except Sloth’s was darker. Both wore purple dresses, but Sloth’s was more indigo and fell in satiny waves to the ground while Trisha’s was shorter and more pastel. But it was no surprise the two women were so alike, Sloth _was_ created by a botched attempt to resurrect Trisha.

            “Envy, how could you betray our master?” The woman told him in a cool, emotionless tone.

            “Betray, that is an interesting word for you to use, Sloth.” He stumbled as his knees buckled from exhaustion. “Hasn’t our master already betrayed _us_? _Think_. Do you seriously believe she’s ever going to give you what you want?”

            “She will once we find that girl you stole.” Wrath said, his tainted childlike voice full of spite.

            “Grow up, our master’s a fraud.” Envy scoffed. “She doesn’t possess the power to create a Philosopher’s Stone and absolutely won’t use it on a _lackey_.”

            “ _Shut up_!” the child screamed and attacked mindlessly at the elder homunculus. But this time he was ready.

            Envy dodged the first onslaught of stone and rubble, observing his surroundings, and formulating a plan. He knew that even with just one of them, he was at a disadvantage. Despite being the youngest, her resilience added to her cold calculating mind made Sloth the deadliest of foes.

            But the strength of teaming her with Wrath was also a mistake. Wrath _was_ adaptable and skilled in hand to hand but he was also volatile, something Envy was all too happy to use to his advantage.

            “Aw does Izumi’s lil baby not like the truth?” Envy cooed mockingly and Wrath’s expression clouded in anger. “Maybe you ought to go back to hiding behind _Mommy’s_ apron, _Pinocchio_.”

            Triumph flooded through him when Wrath furiously screamed and tackled him to the ground. He laughed defiantly as he blocked blow after thick blow and finally wrestled the boy into an arm breaking hold.

            Envy had a second to gulp down a lung full of air as the second part of his plan unfolded and Sloth wrapped him within her watery body. Replacing his arm with his leg, he held Wrath immobile as he punched through the ground cementing himself into place. He floated for an instant, weightless, surrounded by a river pressing against him then he was free.

            Envy landed on top of Wrath, driving a knee into the boy’s shoulder and eliciting a pained noise from the homunculi. A thick curtain of brackish hair made his puffs of breath echo loudly. Then once again pain exploded on his left side and Envy was sent flying.

            He slammed against the entrance to the train station with a loud ooof, painfully slumping to the ground as Sloth drifted toward him. He winced at the deceptively cool gentle touch at his neck that drew him to his feet.

            “There’s no use in struggling.” Sloth asked as Envy squinted up at her. “Just tell us where you’ve hidden the girl and our Master will be lenient.”

            “Did she tell you that?” he wheezed, the corner of his mouth twisted with contempt. “Doesn’t matter, the answer is still no.”

            “It would be in your best interest if you turn over that human.” She told him serenely and the tendril tightened around Envy’s neck, “After all you don’t have many stones left inside you.”

            “Mommy, let’s just kill him.” Wrath said with malicious pleasure. “We can find that human later.”

            Sloth seemed to mull over the idea. The military’s relentless experimentation had weakened him. The battle on the train with Lust cost him a few more lives. Plus the Master _did_ say Envy was to be punished for his treachery.

            _But why was he smiling?_

            With unadulterated delight, Envy pulled out his final card and asked ever so casually “So, what have you decided… _Trisha_.”

            She threw him away from her as shock flew through her without a thought to the consequences. That name and the memories it invoked. Happy days surrounded by two golden boys. Lonely nights longing for that special person in her heart. Sloth stood frozen as she tried to keep her fragile control.

            Overcome by those foreign recollections, she did not see Envy sail into the train station or crash into the benches in front of the platform and finally come to rest in the wreckage.

            “What did you do to Mommy?” Wrath growled and a small giggle came out from the debris.

            “You saw. I didn’t _do_ a thing.” Envy coughed and unsteadily got to his feet, clutching his ribs. “Now _said_ is a different story all together.”

            “I’ll kill you if you hurt her!”

            “Weren’t you going to do that anyway?” Envy countered with an arrogant sneer. “You really need to make up your mind, Wrath. Either kill me or kiss off.”

            Wrath growled at him and the elder homunculi couldn’t resist.

            “Or are you and _Mommy_ _both_ into water play?”

            Quicker than the eye could track both Wrath and Sloth attacked. One for the personal affront, the other for honor. Both assaults would prove fatal with blood of an immortal splattering the remaining walls of the destroyed building. The dark reaper rushed toward the injured monster but it was not him Death would greet that night.

            A light illuminated the gloomy night, heralded by the roar from a mighty beast of metal and steam. The fiend thundered through the station, heedless of the creatures of flesh and blood on its tracks.

            He watched as the train scattered Sloth and Wrath’s bits into the four winds, his breaths coming out in harsh angry pants. As he watched the bloody water and bits ooze slide down the station’s sides, Envy felt the urge to laugh triumphantly.

            _He did it!_ Without any alchemy or special power, he managed to do the impossible. He kicked Sloth and Wrath’s butts! He defeated them and successfully protected Sheska.

            The thought of his final achievement made him feel uncharacteristically warm inside. Something made him want to run as fast as he could in his injured state and hug the human, gushing like a fool over this latest escape.

            Something decidedly _not_ him.

            Envy scowled and pushed away the surge of mixed feelings that rushed through him.

            _I am a monster_ , he told himself. _No one would care if I died._

            _There isn’t any difference between_ _us_ , a voice that suspiciously sounded like Sheska’s argued. _You bleed, cry and hurt just like any other person._

            _I’m an assassin,_ Envy countered. _I’ve murdered far too many people to deserve any compassion._

_You have another side,_ she replied. _A softer side, one that cares for his friends and family._

            “But Sheska, I don’t have a family.” Envy murmured overcome by weariness. “I lost any hope of that a long time ago.”

            _You still have friends_ , a forgotten voice full of tired wisdom revealed. A voice that Envy hadn’t heard in a very long time. As he stumbled toward the ticket booth, more of her long-forgotten wisdom came back to him.

            _What do you take from them, my sweet boy? I know you are not like Dante and simply cast people off as unimportant. You watch them, learn from them. So what have you learned?_

_You have learned the value of life. To take the simple things given to you and treasure it however long it is there. And my dear boy, their gift to you, will always be there because you **remember** them. That way you will always have a friend, even if they are long gone from this world._

            Envy remembered the face that went with the kind words, remembered the name that went with the understanding wrinkled face and soft graying hair. He remembered the scent of gardenias that hung on her homespun dress with its full skirt. The mischievous streak that was passed down to her daughter and granddaughter.

            _Nicollete Saretaino._

The man in the ticket booth was hiding beneath the desk, still cowering from the destruction around him. Envy didn’t bother trying to encourage the man to sell him a ticket and merely slapped down the money, retrieving the slips of paper himself.

            He left the station and trudged toward the motel feeling more confused than he was before.

 


	25. Chapter 25

_Thunk ka-thunk. Thunk ka-thunk. Thunk ka-thunk._

            That mysterious sound permeated her dreams first as the roar of a dragon. The swaying motion in her body became in tuned with the sound, morphing once again. A lullaby sang in an alien tongue.

            Then as she slowly awoke from slumber, the sound became less enigmatic and became the familiar. The motion and noise both came from a commonplace object, one that was in some’s everyday life: a train.

            Sheska jerked awake with an aborted snore. Her eyes darted around the car, missing nothing that sat around her. Greed lounged next to her nearest to the aisle while the chimeras sat at strategic points around her. The warm arm wrapped around her waist briefly tightened and then relaxed as Greed looked over and quietly laughed.

            “Have a nice nap?” he inquired and she nodded wordlessly. Greed motioned with his head toward the person curled up behind her.

            “Let’im sleep for a bit more before getting too twitchy. He looks like he had a rough night.”

            Sheska craned her neck as far as it could go and spied Envy leaned up against the window fast asleep. She noticed hollows beneath his eyes that weren’t there the night before. There were also faint bruises and scratches.

            _Something bad must have happened_ , Sheska thought looking down in her lap at the arm resting around her waist. _He seems so invincible, it’s kinda odd seeing him banged up._

            “I take it I missed a lot.” Sheska said quietly for Envy’s benefit. “How’d the competition go?”

            “Won. We ended up at a motel last night so you and the rest of the lushes got to sleep in beds.” Greed cheerfully answered.

            “So why’s Envy taking a nap?” Sheska asked. “I mean this is the first time I’ve even _seen_ him sleep. I mean I know he _does_ since dreams happen when you sleep…”

            “We--ll.” Greed drawled savoring the word. “It seems to be pretty obvious, _at least to me_ , that our little sin is tired. Think about it, how many lives do you think he’s wasted protecting you, hm?”

            “Okay.”

            Greed chuckled at the slight insulted tone and propped his feet up across the aisle.

            “But I do wonder. He left the room last night to buy tickets then came back pretty wasted and practically collapsed on the floor next to you.” He said. “Wouldn’t really be a big deal if I hadn’t seen what the train station looked like when we came over.”

            “What’d it look like?”

            “We—ll.” Greed said again drawing out the word with a cocky grin. “It looked like a tornado blew through the place. I heard some cops mention two people getting run over by a train and third person getting tossed about by a tidal wave so we can both figure out for ourselves what exactly happened.”

            “Envy got into a fight with a homunculus or two.” She replied sourly. “So, which ones you think ‘stopped by’?”

            Greed thought for a moment, “Well it’s not Pride, he doesn’t have any water powers.”

            “I know Lust doesn’t and I doubt Gluttony does either so who does that leave?” Sheska inquired and Greed shrugged.

            “Sloth and Wrath.” He answered. “Knowing Dante, they might have been replaced since my time with the band.”

            “I think Envy might have mentioned Sloth and her working for the Fuehrer.”

            “Her? Hn, Sloth was a guy last I heard.” Greed mused aloud.  “Guess he didn’t get off his lazy hide one too many times.”

            “So, you didn’t meet any others like you when you and Dante.” Sheska paused and struggled to find an appropriate word. _Greed and Dante were formerly lovers, what does one call such a reunion. Did they just talk or did they…_  

            “ _Spoke_?” Greed supplied for her with a knowing grin. “Nope.”

            “So, you don’t know anything about Sloth or what hers and Envy’s relationship could be.”

            “Sorry.” Greed replied with a grin. “We’re a secretive lot.”

            “Among _other_ things.” Sheska said wryly. “You corrupt innocent maidens with liquor, strip clubs and scandalous behavior.”

            “About on par.” He chuckled. Greed seemed to study Sheska for a moment, cocking his head innocently. “You don’t look like much.”

            Sheska’s mood swung quickly to indignant fury “Well excuse me if I’m not some busty doe eyed flake.”

            “I didn’t mean that!” Greed said raising his hands up as to surrender. “I mean you don’t look very strong.”

            “Funny, Envy once said almost the same thing.” Sheska snorted. “Seems I’m stronger than I look.”

            “Seems so.” Greed quietly said with a sly smirk. Sheska felt uncomfortable with the slightly condescending look he was giving her and pointedly ignored him.

             There was a moment of uncomfortable silence where the only sound was the noise of the train and the conversation of their fellow passengers. The sweet air of morning blew through the partially open windows of the train as sunlight warmed Sheska’s cheek.

            The combination of refreshing air and warm sunlight was soothing. Reassured by the firm arm around her waist Sheska was slowly lulled into sleep. It was then that her calm turned into a storm.

* * *

 

_“Repeat again for me what you just said, I don’t believe I heard you correctly.” Dante said through gritted teeth. There was a shadow across her face, keeping her features secret for now._

_“Envy was captured this morning by the military. They’re experimenting on him as we speak.” Pride, Fuëhrer King Bradley repeated with hidden glee._

_A shadow of annoyance crossed her face and her response held a note of irritation as she sat down neatly before her table._

_“ **How** did this happen?” she demanded as she poured herself a cup of tea._

_“ **The girl** escaped the hospital and set a trap for him.” Bradley explained and Dante furiously threw her ceramic teapot across the room against the wall._

_“ **That petulant child**.” She hissed throwing her tea cup for good measure. “Always has to be difficult.”_

_She transferred her dark gaze to him, “And where is the girl now?”_

_“Disappeared.”_

_Dante flashed him a look of distain and began thinking of places the girl would have hidden herself away. The only people Nicollete knew excluding her were Envy and Pride. Dante knew the girl wouldn’t be so foolish to hide inside her own hideout within her grasp. **So where**?_

_“About Envy.” Bradley said hesitantly, carefully gauging her mood. “What would you like to be done with him?”_

_“Leave him.” Dante snapped. “If Envy was foolish enough to be captured, he’s no longer any use to me.”_

_The homunculi hid a pleased smile and watched as she bit down hard on her lower lip, patiently awaiting her orders. Unlike Envy, he knew how to not recklessly rush into things. To wait for the general to direct her soldiers._

_“Tell Lust watch the train station.” She ordered him, plotting out the next move in the game between her and Nicollete. “Have her take Gluttony along to sniff the girl out if she decides to leave the city. Make certain she does **not** leave the city.”_

_“And what if Miss Azure regrets her decision about having Envy detained?”_

_“I’ll leave that up to you.” Dante replied resting her chin on her hand, a calculating smile on her lips. “If she **does** attempt a rescue, do ensure she finds Envy in **no condition** to escape.”_

_“I understand.” Pride said no longer bothering to hide his delight._

_Less than an hour later, he was hurriedly walking down a hallway deep within the base of operations of Amestris’s military with his secretary at his side. He was led by men in white lab coats to a sterile room where Envy laid strapped to a gurney, seemingly unconscious. The techs inside the room hurried about like life sized ants, only to recoil when their subject jerked in his sleep._

_“His physiology is absolutely **amazing**.” The main scientist gushed. “So far we’ve witnessed a complete regeneration of several limbs, mostly fingers and toes. Right now we’re prepping for a major test for his healing factor: **removal of his spleen**!”_

_“Let’s be daring, Doctor.” Bradley told him pleasantly. “Have your staff remove something major. Like his heart or brain.”_

_Sloth quietly chuckled as the scientist’s eyes went wide and he sputtered for a moment, having trouble speaking his thoughts._

_“But it could kill the specimen.” He finally said. “We’re only **just** understanding the nature of the beast. If we do something as drastic as..”_

_The leader of the nation and head of the military cut him off mid-sentence by clapping him firmly on the back in a friendly manner._

_“Doctor I’m certain this abomination can handle anything.”_

_And to the doctor’s surprise, his specimen did. Screaming, writhing in inexpressible pain and swearing unholy vengeance, the homunculi revealed the miraculous extent of his restorative powers._

_The doctors could hardly get his skull open for the fiend’s lobotomy before it reacted and healed the damage. His ribs snapped closed and his body remade his missing heart. Time after time, attempt after attempt and one organ followed by another Envy was restored._

_**Stop it** , Envy screamed inside his mind. **Stop it. Stop it! Stop it Stopitstopitstopit. Why are you doing this to me!?**_

_He was inside the Gate. He must be. There were the cold methodical eyes surrounding him. The pain and probing hands belonging to faceless whispering voices. The feeling of helplessness, despair and betrayal._

_The pain was too much. He wanted to simply give in, to return to the numbness of death and let himself finally die but it was not to be. His body, that perfectly unnatural body refused to allow him the mercy. Again and again, Envy would return from death’s embrace and do so with a gasp full of anguish._

_“Why?” he gasped “Why did you betray me… **Master**.” ._


	26. Chapter 26

            “Sheska!”

            Someone was screaming, she realized. The shrill noise was almost deafening but somehow she could hear Envy’s voice through the din.

            “Is there a problem here?”

            That was the conductor, who stared down at Envy forebodingly as he held Sheska, burying her face into his shoulder. It took a moment but then she realized who had been screaming: it was her. _He was tortured. The military tortured Envy for three days and his Master allowed it._

            “No problem here, our friend just had a nightmare.” Greed informed the disbelieving man as Sheska sobbed. Envy gave her an awkward hug, his mind on other things.

            “Miss?” the conductor said reaching for Sheska but she was unresponsive. Envy nudged her with his shoulder and she nodded in acknowledgement.

            “You want to go get some air and calm down a little?” the homunculus asked and she nodded again. Envy rose with Sheska still clinging to him.

            “Sorry for the disturbance,” he explained as he wiggled past the conductor with the girl. “Night terrors, _gotta love’em_.”

            The rationalization seemed to placate the uniformed man and he allowed the duo to pass and head toward the caboose where they could speak privately.

            Once they stepped outside Sheska pushed herself away from Envy, filled with feelings of humiliation and shame. She angrily swiped at her cheeks, letting the cool wind dry her tears.

            _Why am I so stupid_ , Sheska screamed at herself uncomfortably aware of Envy’s scrutiny. _I caused such a **scene** and why? A simple revelation that apparently didn’t effect Envy in the slightest._

_He said it himself, he’s used to torture and brutality._

            “You have an interesting way of waking a guy up.” Envy joked and Sheska slumped against the railing with a moan.

            “I’m _so_ _sorry_!” she cried flushing miserably. “I wanted you to get a little more sleep after that fight last night.”

            Envy smirked and leaned against the car wall, “Is that what turned you into one hellofa alarm clock? You saw the fight with Sloth and Wrath?”

            “No, I knew about it because Greed told me the station was wrecked.”

            “So what freaked you out?”

            Sheska took a deep breath, praying for strength. She kept her eyes closed and refused to turn around before delivering this latest bomb shell.

            “I saw what the military did to you.”

            “Ah.”

            The casual way in which he said the word made Sheska all the more embarrassed for over reacting. She wasn’t aware of the moment when Envy moved toward her, nor the instant he laid his hand on her shoulder.

            “Must have been pretty horrifying seeing all that gore.” He said to her in a gentle tone. “Back when we first met, you fainted from it all the time.”

            “It wasn’t the blood and mutilation, it was _you_.” Sheska replied and continued quietly hoping her words would become lost. “I knew what you were thinking as the scientists maimed you. I could hear it.”

            Envy was silent as she continued.

            “You tried convincing yourself you were in some place called the Gate. That they-- Dante _and_ Nicollete didn’t betray you. But you _knew_ and it _hurt_.”

            Sheska turned and looked up fearfully, expecting to see Envy furious at her intrusion to his most inner thoughts. His eyes full of a murderous desire to choke her at her display of compassion. What she found was altogether and unquestionably _unexpected_ **.**

            A thoughtful smile curving his lips.

            “Why are you smiling?” she asked her voice shaky with unshed tears.

            “You actually meant what you said.” Envy said more to himself than to her. Sheska’s mind whirled at his dry response as he shook his head in disbelief, regarding her with bemused curiosity.

            “It’s _adorable_ how human minds work.”

            Sheska’s thoughts spun at his dry response. _What…the… I just confessed I got a look at some pretty personal stuff when I know how guarded Envy is…and he thinks I was being cute?!_

“What do you remember about last night?” he asked looking very pleased with himself. A slow grin curved his lips when Sheska colored at the first memory that came to mind.

            “Did you just so happen to recall slipping a Chippendale some cash?” Envy said arching his eyebrows mischievously. As she gave him a black layered look, the homunculi chuckled.

            “O~ok, do you remember tearing into Greed and myself?” he asked to which she shook her head. Innocently with a devious grin he added, “Does the words Greed needing his Ultimate Shield if he wants to bone Dante ring any bells?”

            When Sheska’s eyes went wide, his grin broadened and he went on further.

            “Or what about how I was raised by a demented psycho because my dad’s a jerk or how I _didn’t_ lie about how I died.”

            “So you really died in an ambiguous freak hunting accident?” Sheska inquired the beginning of a smile tipping the corners of her mouth.

            “Dork.”

            “So what other things did I do while drunker than a skunk.” She asked with amusement. “Flirt with the bartender? Try picking up a guy?”

            “Our drink slinger last night was female but you did manage to flirt with someone.”

            “Tell me it wasn’t Greed!” Sheska said at once and Envy laughed at the sudden fear on her face.

            “It wasn’t Greed.”

            “Was it someone extremely embarrassing?”

            “That’s a matter of opinion.” He replied and her expression was one of mute wretchedness.

            There was a side of Envy that was tempted to continue tormenting her with the knowledge Sheska sought. A side that wanted to relentlessly tease her about her uninhibited actions. To have Sheska experience the same feelings of disorientation and alarm as she caused him to feel.

            However another side, the side that spoke with the wisdom of centuries told him how childish that sort of behavior was. How utterly self-destructive and unbeneficial such actions were toward his goals. Teasing Sheska about her drunken advances served no other purpose except as a pointless diversion and exposed a lack of restraint.

            “Remember the first time we hopped a train?” Envy inquired. “You asked me a question and I wanted to know whether you wanted to know the whole story or what concerned you.”

            “Yes,” Sheska responded with a sniff. “That was when you told me that Nicollete gave her powers to me. Why?”

            “I think it’s time you knew the whole story.” Envy said with out of character seriousness. “About how the Master knew about Nicollete’s powers. How her mother came to be raised by Dante.”

            “And why Nicollete called you a friend, despite knowing you were her parent’s murderer?”

            “Kinda unusual, huh?” he chuckled and sat down by the door. He motioned for Sheska to do the same.

            “Unusual is an understatement.” She replied taking a seat on the opposite side of the door from him.

            “Let’s see,” Envy said pausing a moment to think. “It all began a long time ago with another girl named Nicollete…”

            By the end of Envy’s tale, Sheska would come to realize just how much the word unusual was indeed an understatement.


	27. Chapter 27

_Long ago in a land far far away, there once lived a young maiden named Nicollete. Unlike any other maiden in that world, she was not only beautiful but very intelligent. It was this intelligence that would lead her to do many a thing that other girls of her land would never think of doing._

_Things such as traveling the world, going on safari, and exploring caves. It was in one such cave that she came to behold a gateway. A gate that peered at her while she peered at it. **The** Gate._

            “What _is_ the Gate?” Sheska asked and Envy snorted.

            “Everyone has their own definition of what it is. The Gate is knowledge. It is Truth. In another life, it was explained to me as the one that is all…and a piece of it lay inside each living person.”

            “All is one and one is all.” She murmured, the words coming from a place deep within. Sheska was beginning to come to a frightening conclusion as to where her visions and uncharacteristic wisdom were coming from.

            “Alchemists are those with the ability to access the powers of their inner gate and use it to reshape matter.” Envy informed her and smirked, “But what if your connection to the Gate were different? What if, instead of a transfer of power, yours gave insight?”

            “They would be able to see events from the past, present and future.” Sheska whispered and Envy nodded.

            “And with any dealings with the Gate: there is always a price.”

 

* * *

   

          _She was very curious about this Gate that watched her so intently. So curiously. Nicollete wondered what force created such a being. Where did this gate lead? What did it feel like?_

_Of course, her latter question was easily answered when she touched the Gate and something sparked between them. It was laughing at her as she was sent reeling backwards in shock. Laughing with the voices of thousands of tiny children. Children who were yet to be. Who never **were** to be._

_“What is this?” Nicollete asked herself. “Does it live or is it mindless. What are you really?”_

            _Humanity’s ultimate sin has never been some simple action with catastrophic results. Perhaps envy or sloth? Greed, or wrath? Gluttony, pride and lust? No. It has always been a small insignificant thing._

_Curiosity_

_Curiosity led to the ruin of millions. And in Nicollete’s case, it led her to ignore the voice that screamed ‘That Gate is dangerous’ and to step through._

_Its laughter turned raucous. Images after images pounded their way into her mind. Relentless and brilliantly full of the answers she sought and much more she did not.  Nicollete begged for the visions to stop, pleaded for no more._

_And the Gate just laughed. Laughed and cackled until the unsympathetic sound of enjoyment seemed to form words._

_“This **is** what you wanted. You wanted to know and so you shall!” said the Gate. “But understand all gifts come with a price! And the price of your knowledge is the consequence of all knowledge.”_

_“You will know every mundane detail of your life. Of every facet of everyone you encounter and those you haven’t. There will be no surprises, no happy moments of disbelief or sad instances that occur without warning. You will know every white lie, every half-truth. All will be laid bare before you and you will weep. Such is the cost of curiosity.”_

* * *

 

            “Nicollete tried a few times to prevent her visions from coming to be.” Envy told Sheska. “Tried saving her first husband and many others. But no one listened.”

            “How sad.” She replied in a grave tone. “What happened to her?”

            “What else? Nicollete went on with life. She found a man who believed in her, they married and had children.” Then he sighed. “But it didn’t last, all of them died and there was nothing she could do about it.”

            “After she lost the last of her family, Dante and I met Nicollete. We’d been tracking her for a few years when she literally fell into our laps.” Envy looked over at Sheska and smirked. “She had seen a vision of dying by the Master’s hands and came to die. Pretty pathetic, huh?”

            Envy didn’t wait for Sheska to reply and continued his tale.

            “However the master didn’t want to kill Nicollete, so instead Dante and her became friends… _if you can believe it_. They shared everything with one another. Their favorite colors, foods, _heh_ tales between the sheets and fashion. It surprised the crap outta me to say the least. But you really could _not_ be friends with Nicollete.”

            “She was full of sage advice, funny observations.” Envy told Sheska with a fond smile. “She was the first person who never treated me like I was a monster. No matter what I did: wise off, call her names, did everything I could think to make her mad…I was always her ‘sweet boy’.”

            “What changed?” Sheska inquired and Envy’s smile morphed into a smirk.

            “I already told you, she stupidly revealed that her powers would pass along to her daughter. And after being informed that she would never have the power, in a brilliant moment of PMS, Dante murdered her.”

            “Dare I ask _how_?” she asked her eyes wide and round as saucers.

            “I thought by now you would have understood just how dangerous curiosity is.” Envy teased then shrugged, “She was crushed.”

            Sheska winced, “So…Loria?”

            His features became more animated. A fond smile tugged at his lips and he closed his eyes, reliving those happy moments.

            “She was born in springtime, the day the Master’s Glory-of-the-Snows bloomed. First time we met, her mother practically threw Loria at me and said ‘big brothers get dibs.’”

            Sheska laughed, “Aw~, that was sweet.”

            “Not really.” Envy responded wry. “It became an excuse for babysitting, midnight feedings, _changing diapers_.”

            Both Sheska and him grimaced at the same time, exchanged a look then burst into friendly laughter. After the laughter faded and the sound drifted to silence, Envy’s expression slid from amused to melancholy.

            “But then Nicollete’s vision came to be and she died.” One side of his mouth quirked. “And oddly enough, nothing changed. All those times I took care of Lori had me as familiar to the infant as her mom… _probably exactly what the woman planned_.”

            “Lori would wake up and want a bottle at 5 and 8 am, sleeping between meals. After her later feeding she’d sit in my lap listening to a talk show for at least an hour and after that show we’d listen to a western until her next meal and nap.”

            Envy smirked and turned his head to Sheska and asked, “Pretty funny I still remember her schedule, huh?”

            Sheska shook her head, “Not at all. My mother still remembers mine.”

            He leaned his head back, closing his eyes. _I wonder if **she** remembers m…_

Envy’s eyes snapped open and he sat up abruptly. Sheska couldn’t quite decipher the expression on his face. _Self-disgust with a hint of sadness? Or was it determination with a dash of uneasiness?_

“Loria and I were close because of our bond when she was a baby. As she grew older, she would tell me all about the ‘dreams’ she’d have. About the war with the ‘red eyed people’, the rise of the one-eyed pride and joy. She even had one vision about ‘golden little boys’.”

            Sheska looked over and found Envy smirking, watching the train tracks pass beyond them. He gave her a sideward glance.

            “That would be the Ishval war, Fueher Bradley and the Elric brothers in case you’re wondering.”

            “Loria had a vision of Ed and Al?” Sheska asked and he nodded.

            “That’s where it started. Soon the excuses Dante and I had been giving her weren’t satisfying her anymore. She started wanting to know more about the world she had been isolated from.” Envy told her and shrugged. “If there were bad people out there, didn’t matter: she could see the danger coming. If the world wasn’t ready for someone like her, then why was the world ready for a homunculus for a world leader?”

            “And then her powers gave her the answers she sought.” Sheska said solemnly. “She knew her mother was murdered by the people who raised her. She knew she was being used.”

            “Yup…but the ties between her and me couldn’t be broken so easily.” Envy told her. “Because Loria knew everything she also knew despite any lies I told, I really did consider her my little sister. She also understood even before I did that I was being used too.”

            Sheska reached out toward him at the sad edge his voice took and Envy moved away with a sharp glare. She retreated and listened to more of his story.

            “It was probably the sole reason she waited until she was as old as she was before escaping. Probably the reason she didn’t go too far either.” A distant smile slanted his lips. “Your Nicollete was actually born in Dublith, did you know that?”

            “No.” Sheska responded and he nodded.

            “Her daddy was a lumberjack and she was born in a cabin he built.” Envy snickered. “I still think he was a moron, and a weak and pathetic worm.”

            “How can you say that?” Sheska cried taking offense at such a harsh statement. “You never met the man.”

            “Actually I have. I met him once in passing when Lori was a teenager and snuck him in. And another time right before he died.”

            Sheska blanched recalling at the last moment that Envy murdered not only Loria but also her husband. She mentally slapped herself, _Try to remember this stuff **before** putting your foot in your mouth!_

            She saw in the corner of her eye one side of Envy’s mouth quirk upwards.

            “So what do you think, now that you know the whole story?”

            She took her own advice and thought long before speaking. His story spoke to her in the same way her visions of the past spoke. They were a lesson to follow. An insight to those seen and unseen. It was the legacy of those who were like Sheska, of those who came before and made the ultimate sacrifice.

            But it still left a few things unsaid…and that was when the Gate provided the answers with a vision.


	28. Chapter 28

_It was the end, Loria knew it. She knew she’d walk in and make her demands while backed by her gun wielding husband. That the horrifying woman inside would not show the least bit of shock then deny her demands. She knew she would then knowingly force the issue and just as knowingly get killed._

_Simple, right? Not so._

_“Honey, are you certain you want to do this.” Her husband inquired pumping his shotgun. She looked at the man who loved her enough to hide for years alongside her, who believed her without question when she told him of her powers. The man she was consciously bringing to his death._

_“We have to, for Nicki.” Lori told him. “She deserves to go out and be free. The only way our baby’ll be safe is if we stop her.”_

_“I know hon, but are you sure we can do it?” he asked uncertainly. “I mean, didn’t you always say that she has monsters that can’t die? What if we come across one of them?”_

_She knew there was one there, the most dangerous and loyal of monsters. A fiend who was more liable to kill you than speak a kind word. The expert performer, the destructive killer. The one she loved and hated the most. The envious and envied._

_“We’re the only ones here.” She lied. “We’ll stick to the plan and go in, tell her what we want, shoot her if we must and leave once we have it.”_

_“All right, I trust you.” He told her and her heart sank._

_As she led him to their mutual doom, she wished with all her heart that he didn’t._

_It was her who held the gun. She with all the power who would pull the trigger. Tears gathered in her eyes and she silently begged the only mother she had ever known to say yes. Yes, I will never seek you for your powers. Say it, she pleaded. Please don’t make me._

_“Honey?” her husband asked nervously pressing the gun against his shoulder while Envy had eyes only for her._

_“I’ve never asked anything of you. I’ve always been a good obedient child. But **this**.” Her voice broke and Dante’s smug look never wavered. “Give this to us. Everything will change.”_

_“Yes, it will.” The elderly woman conceded and for a moment Lori felt hope. “I will no longer have the tool necessary for my goals and you will squander your gift with a meaningless life.”_

_Dante sighed, “It’s a sin passed down from your mother, it seems. She too wasted her power with inconsequential attempts to ‘ **save the world**.’ Assisting police catching criminals, **bah**! One of those criminals followed her home and murdered her family. ”_

_“What you’re asking is a misuse of what you have been granted. A connection with the Gate that gives you knowledge itself! You alone have this gift. Why not use it for something momentous?”_

_“Helping you create wars and strife so you can extend your life is not momentous, it’s monstrous!” She snapped. “You don’t care about the deaths you cause, the futures you destroy. All you care about is your selfish desires.”_

_“So that is a no?” Dante purred, the hint of a smile on her lips. “Then for old time’s sake, may I ask a question?”_

_May I ask a question? She knew this game. For as long as she could remember this is how the two of them played God. An innocent question with destructive consequence._

_Lori knew what this final, lethal question would be and the answer would be death. But she could change it, some desperate part of herself pleaded. She could run away. Take her husband, her baby and run. They could hide for the rest of their lives and never be found._

_But what about… She had already arranged everything. She laid out all her pieces, left all the clues, prepared for everything. What about all the work her mother had done? What of her sacrifice? Was everything they both did in vain?_

_“What is your question, Lady Dante?” Lori asked, her stomach sinking as the woman slowly smiled._

_“Do you really aim to shoot me?”_

_The final question, what would be her final answer? Continue and bring chaos to so many innocent lives? Or hide forever and watch as the world falls down._

_The final answer came to her in a vision. With brilliant clarity she knew what she must do. Confidently she gave Dante her reply._

_“Yes.”_

_A shot rang out and everything else occurred as if in a blur. Loria fell to the ground and her husband shot Envy. The spray of ammo only seemed to infuriate the heartbroken creature as he mindlessly attacked._

_When Envy came back to his senses, he found himself surrounded by blood with tears streaking down his face. Dante stood over him, her lips thin with displeasure._

_“Such a foolish waste.” She muttered and with a swish of angry skirts, stormed away giving the grieving homunculi not another thought._

_Envy crawled to the woman, cradling her body to his chest, resisting the urge to scream. Rocking her as he did when she was an infant, he hid his tears in her shoulder. It was then he noticed a slip of paper clutched in her hand. He laid her gently down and delicately pried it from her dead hands._

_A map with an X marked by a single name:_ Nicollete Azure.

* * *

 

            The tear streaked face merged with one dry of tears leaning over her, silently calling her name.

            “Sheska.”

            She closed her eyes as Envy cautiously pulled her up into his lap, pain briefly spiking behind her skull. Disoriented, Sheska didn’t seem the least bit aware that the comforting warmth beneath her cheek was Envy’s chest.

            “Need a moment?” He quietly asked and she shook her head. “Should I ask what you saw?”

            “Loria told you where to find her daughter.” Sheska murmured, her voice almost muffled by the sounds of the train. “She had a map in her hand along with the gun she threatened Dante with.”

            “Ah. That.” Envy crisply said. From beneath her ear, Sheska heard his heart skip a beat and she chuckled.

            “I can hear your heart beating.” She teased. “Here I thought with all your tough talk that your kind didn’t work the same way I do.”

            “We’re not that much different. On an elemental level, even some primary structures of our…” Envy was cut off by a faint laugh.

            “You sound like Ed.” She told him faintly. “So scientific and precise.”

            “That’s really not something you should say about me.” He warned a note of annoyance appearing in his voice.

            “It’s just funny that two people who obviously dislike the other have a lot in common.” Sheska replied rubbing her cheek against his chest. She inhaled deeply and sighed. “You smell nice.”

            “Another compliment um.. _thank you_?” Envy responded trying not to laugh. “That still doesn’t make up for comparing me to the Pipsqueak.”

            “You both hate milk. Both of you are acrobatic fighters.” Sheska told him. “You’re both blond!”

            She noticed that same barely there knee jerk reaction and wondered a bit what about his hair color would cause it. Before she could ask about it the door to the train opened and Dorochet stepped out.

            “Hate to break up.. _whatever_ you two are doing but there’s a problem up ahead.”

            Envy was on his feet almost immediately and had Sheska on hers almost as fast.

            “Seems the military’s at the next station and they’re looking for a cross dressing palm tree with a chick.”

            “Sloth, you shady oversized _water balloon_.” Envy growled and turned to Sheska. “We gotta jump.”

            “Off the train??”

            “Yes Sheska.” Envy told her and looked around at the upcoming landscape. A grin appeared on his face as the sight of a lake and mountainous forest terrain rolled into view. “Good news too, we can jump up ahead and not kill ourselves. And as an added bonus, we’re not that far from Resembool.”

            “If you think we can…” she said uncertainly and Envy turned to the chimera.

            “Remind Greed to do his part of our striptease bargain.” He told the man and Dorochet grinned.

            “Already on it. With a bit of shoe polish and some stolen sunglasses, at a distance Marta can pass as the girl here.”

            “And what about the palm tree?” Envy inquired with a smirk and the dog chimera gave him a cunning look.

            “Have you _seen_ how spiky the boss’s hair is?”

            “Yours too Lassie.” Envy retorted and scooped Sheska up. “You see the Fueher’s secretary tell her she looks better in an apron.”

            Without waiting for a reply, Envy leapt from the train to the sound of Sheska scream.

            By some miracle or excellent timing on Envy’s part, the duo missed the trees lining the tracks and managed to tumble into soft underbrush. However, though the piles of brown decaying leaves were deep, their landing was still jarring and left Sheska and Envy both sore.

            “Now I know why books never go into great detail on heroic leaps.” Sheska groaned as she stood up. “Hard to look like an amazing hero when you’re hobbling like an old man.”

            “Books lie. Fairytale princes that leap from the parapets into the moat in real life end up with broken necks.” Envy replied shambling up to his feet. Sheska offered him a hand and he silently declined her help.

            “Well what do we do now?” she asked. “We lost our supplies and we’re lost in the woods.”

            “One- We’re not lost. I know where we’re at. Two- if I have an herbalism hobby, what makes you think I don’t know how to rough it in the woods?” Envy asked right before he heard something large hit the ground a distance away. He motioned to the bespeckled female.

            “And three? That’s probably our supplies just up ahead. Let’s go get’em.”

            Envy led Sheska through the brush and overgrowth until they came across a rolled up bundle of cloth with a canteen and pot tied to it with twine. Attached as well was a slip of paper.

            “ _Envy and Girl_ , that jerk! He couldn’t even bother to remember my name.” Sheska cried then read the rest of the note aloud. “ _Hope you found your junk. Marta left you her combat knife since you lacked a real weapon. I’m keeping the cash; Envy can bite me. –Greed._ ”

            “Keep it, y’stingy bastard.” Envy responded rifling through the pack and finding the blade and sheath. He tucked it into his waist band then hefted the bundle onto his back.

            “How are you going to move fast if you’re carrying the pack?” Sheska asked uneasily. “Won’t that make it harder to fight?”

            “We’re going to be hiking and you obviously haven’t once been out of the city.” Envy told her. “I have and I’m still stronger than you even without the stones.”

            “And what makes you think that.” She argued defiantly and he gave her a deadpan look.

            “I’m a guy and have compact muscle.”

            Sheska’s gaze boldly raked over him, noticing details she had missed or ignored before. His shirt was taunt over his muscular chest, the same firm chest she had buried her face in not long before. Below where his shirt cut off were chiseled abs, hard enough to grate cheese on. And below… Sheska blushed at the direction her thoughts were going.

            “If you’re done looking at me like a piece of meat, can we get going now?” Envy inquired with amusement. With renewed humiliation, she turned away from him.

            Sheska rigidly held her tears in check, pushing back the shame she felt. She was better than this, her mind cried. She wasn’t some stupid floozy who threw herself at every man she encountered despite the situation. _This wasn’t the time to ogle anybody!_

            Sheska was so focused on her thoughts she jerked in surprise when Envy wrapped his arms around her midriff.

            “Being friends with me yer gonna need some stronger skin, bookworm.” He murmured in her ear. “I _will_ exploit every weakness, every flaw you have and tease you relentlessly about them.”

            “That’s not being a friend.” She replied in a shaky voice.

            “Then tell me, _oh mousey one_ , how can I become a better friend.”

            “Stop being mean to me.” Sheska told him and elbowed him in the gut. She heard him let out an amused grunt before letting her go.

            “I wasn’t being mean.” He responded with a grin as he rubbed his injured side. “However you elbowing me when I was _just giving you a hug_ …”

            “You were not _just_ hugging me.” Sheska said as she rolled her eyes and marched ahead of him. “You were messing with me _again_.”

            “Fine, I might have been.” Envy raced after her. “It’s a habit, ok?”

            Stressed as she was, with her whole mad escape from the train still echoing in her mind, Sheska finally let loose.

            “Not ok! It’s not funny, it’s not a stress reliever, or playful in the very least. Yes, _fine_ I was ogling you. You’re built like an athlete, you can look like anything and and your real voice is like… _I don’t know_ like you have a side job as a phone sex operator.”

            Envy covered his mouth so not to burst into laughter and listened silently as Sheska continued to vent.

            “And _so what_ I was staring at you _like a piece of meat_. You got free drinks from half the strip joint we were at, how do you think _they_ were looking at you?”

            “Like a taco platter at a fat camp.”

            Her mouth quirked with humor and she pointed at him accusingly, “Stop making me laugh!”

            He mimicked her gesture and replied in a mocking voice, “Stop flattering me!”

            Sheska shoved him and Envy fell over with a giggle. He landed on their supplies and kicked his feet helplessly in the air.  She couldn’t help the laugh that escaped as he flopped about like a turtle flipped onto its shell.

            “I’m stuck. Be a friend, help me up.”

            She stared down at him, “You’re not stuck.”

            He wiggled more and said in a pathetic tone “I’m stuck.”

            “Envy get up, you’re no more stuck than I am.”

            “Halp.”

            Sheska shook with silent laughter, “Weren’t you in a hurry not five minutes ago.”

            “Not really, I’ve actually been enjoying our little trip.” He replied with a grin then winked, “I got a new friend out of it.”

            “Fine you win, _weirdo_.” She replied with a sigh. Sheska offered him her hand and he took it, rolling to his feet without any assistance.

            “But I’m _your_ weirdo.” Envy retorted. She helped him dust off the leaves and he took her hand before leading the way forward.

            “Let’s go… _lil xenophobe_.”

            “I can’t believe you’re still hung up on that.” Sheska huffed. “You really _do_ look like an alien.”

            “ _My lil xenophobe_.” He cooed sweetly nudging her playfully.

            “You are such a weirdo.”


	29. Chapter 29

            The game began anew. First one question, followed by another and a single answer leading into the next. And then…

            “I have never…had a guy talk to me for more than five minutes.” Sheska revealed as Envy lifted her down from a particularly steep edge to where he stood.

            “Really?” he replied rather surprised. “They were probably intimidated by your brains.”

            “More likely they’re more interested in looks.”

            “Eh, you’re not that bad.” He shocked her by saying before abruptly changing the subject. “Okay my turn: I have never been on a date…a _real_ one and not something for Dante.”

            “Seriously?!”

            Envy chuckled as they walked, “It’s not that unexpected when you consider I don’t have much of a social life.”

            “Ha!” Sheska exclaimed pointing at him with an expression of smug satisfaction. “Didn’t you tease _me_ about not having a social life not that long ago?”

            “Are you _still_ hung up about that?” he replied a genuine smile tugging at his lips, his words echoing ones she spoke not that long ago.

            “ _Fine_.” She drawled.  “My turn: I haven’t been on a real date either.”

            “Hm.” Envy seemed to be lost in thought for a moment before he turned away from her and asked her quite abruptly.

            “After all this is over, when we don’t have to worry about Dante or homunculi gunning for us, what would you say about going on a date?”

            Her mouth dropped open and she was so confused and taken aback she couldn’t speak. A gamut of thoughts and feelings silenced her. Slowly her shock evaporated and changed to irritation.

            “That’s not funny.” Sheska spoke with quiet, but desperate, firmness. “You really ought to stop joking around like that.”

            “I wasn’t messing with you.” Envy responded frankly turning back towards her. “I’m perfectly serious. If we both get out of this alive, do you want to go out.”

            There was that feeling again, Sheska realized. That knee-jerk, blow to the gut sensation every time Envy said or did something with deeper meaning.

            _It couldn’t be_ , her mind screamed _. It’s not what it appears to be. Nothing is what it appears to be with him._ She decided to take a page from Envy’s book and pretend indifference.

            “Sure, why not.” She watched as one side of his mouth quirked up.

            “Ok, let’s see: I have never…dyed my hair.”

            Sheska giggled, “ _Cheater_. You’re a shape shifter, you wouldn’t actually _need_ to. Do another one.”

            “No way!” he countered as he cut through some brush in their path. “The rules are state something you’ve never done. I haven’t ever dyed my hair so it’s _your_ turn.”

            “Fine y’con artist fruit.”

            “Book freak.”

            “I have never…” Sheska paused to think. _Something obvious and yet according to the rules._ She realized there were many things she had never done. Left the city. Camped out. Been shot at. Talked to a man for longer than ten minutes. But thanks to this little adventure, she got to experience them all. And Sheska found she had a new-found confidence because of it.

            She wasn’t afraid to talk to strangers anymore nor afraid to be rejected for sharing her views. What did it matter? She survived multiple encounters with monsters. Nothing could scare her more than being back in that field alone and face to face with Gluttony.

            _What haven’t I done,_ Sheska asked herself. _Never been kissed._ But she blushed as she quickly discarded that one. **_Have_** _been kissed…by Envy. But it really wasn’t a real kiss, just lips touching and…_

“Thinking perverted things again I see.” Envy commented in an all too familiar silky tone. She smacked him and he yelped in surprise.

            “You’re the one thinking naughty.” He replied returning to his regular speaking voice.

            “You’re the one jacking with me using a voice that oughta be outlawed!” Sheska desperately retorted. _Think of something!_

“You _do_ realize keeping up this form does require _some_ concentration.” He popped back with. “I relaxed, sue me.”

            “Fine!” without thinking Sheska threw out the first thing she could come up with. After all, their game was just something to pass the time with.

            “I have never used a gun.”

            _Twitch._

            It was more apparent this time. There was no faintness of Envy’s reaction this time. It was evident and easily seen by anyone. Sheska had said something significant. Something that broke through and shattered that indifferent mask that Envy maintained even after all they had been through.

            _Was the reaction due to how he shot and killed Loria?_ Sheska frowned and rejected the notion. It was certainly something that would have had an impact but she could tell that he had long come to terms with her death at his hands. He understood how important it was and how it would lead him to what he desired most.

            _So what could it be? What about a gun could have had such an impact on Envy? Something in his past…_

It was then that Sheska felt the world tilting. She knew what this sensation meant and fear gripped her heart. She had summoned a vision to give her the answers she sought. Now fully understanding the history of these powers gifted to her, she knew the potential consequences to her actions.

            But she was helpless to shut the Pandora’s box she had open. The vision struck without warning and dropped her to her knees at the information she now possessed.

* * *

 

**** _Nicollete Azure stood before Colonel Frank Archer hardly containing her distain for the oily looking man. Her arms were crossed and, had she had eyes beneath the crimson red blindfold, the young woman would have been glaring at him._

_“So,” the slick haired Archer purred. His cool blue eyes peered at Nicollete unimpressed with the blind girl that abruptly appeared at his office._

_“You say you can deliver a live homunculi specimen to the military.”_

_“It’s not all that hard.” she replied with a casual shrug._

_Archer’s eyebrows rose and he smirked down at the blind girl. He smoothed his uniform and gave her a look that was to prove how inferior he found her, only recalling she was blind a moment too late._

_“You will find your little lab rat scuttling about at diner on Main Street. He will be alone, wearing a rather outrageous outfit that clearly reveals the ouroboros on his left thigh and have the appearance of an older teenager.”_

_“And why should I believe you?”_

_“It’s your choice whether or not to believe me.” she replied with another shrug. “But if you do choose to go, don’t be too surprised if he turns into someone you or anyone else you bring knows.”_

_Archer smirked, “And what’s in this for you?”_

_“I’m mad at him for killing a man who left behind a wife and young daughter.” she replied and then smirked, “I’m certain you know who I speak of. His unsolved murder hit a lot of people hard. You know this office was once his.”_

_If it were at all possible, Archer’s pasty skin went suddenly pale._ Wife and young daughter. Unsolved murder. This office was once his. Maes Hughes! _Before Archer could ask her the many questions engulfing his mind, she spoke._

_“Wouldn’t it be nice to be the one to solve that mystery? You would **become very popular** with lotsa people. It would look **so good** in your file.” she smiled. “And being responsible for the capture—especially **live** capture— of a homunculus…I see promotions.”_

_A gleam appeared in Colonel Frank Archer’s eyes. One that told he too saw promotions in his future. That mad gleam forebode his belief in the shoddy looking girl with the blind fold. There was a homunculus at that diner. He **would** look exactly as she said._

_And Archer would be the one to capture him._

_But not alone…_

_Just as predicted, Envy sat in a booth in a diner on Main Street enjoying the order of chocolate parfait sitting before him. He leisurely licked the spoon, slouched in the booth, happy to have found some time alone._

_Time that was spoiled when a squad of men from the military burst into the restaurant with weapons drawn. Envy found himself surrounded but ignored them in favor of enjoying his dessert._

_He was fiddling with the cherry when the crowd of gun toting men parted and Colonel Archer sauntered in proudly. Envy hardly gave him a glance as he sat down across from him._

_“You’re coming with us, abomination.”_

_“I’m truly amazed you got my nickname right.” Envy replied indifferently. He scooped the cherry up from the bottom of his cup and contemplated whether or not he wanted to eat it._

_“Get up.” Archer ordered and the homunculi smirked._

_“You actually think surrounding **an immortal** with guns is going to force them to go along with you?” Envy snickered. _

_“You’re the most pathetic human I’ve met.” He dropped the cherry back into the cup and gave the human sitting across from him a scathing look. His good humor turned dark as a gleeful smile quirked his lips._

_“You’re—”_

_But before Envy could say another word, he jerked in his seat and blood oozed from his mouth. Archer and him both looked down at the same time to see a metal bulb protruding from Envy’s chest. Before their eyes the bulb snapped open and a grapple emerged, its sharp hooks burrowing into his skin._

_“Hey, you look pretty pathetic there yourself.” a familiar voice said from across the room._

_There was another ting of metal and once again Envy’s body jerked as a hideously bloody bulb jutting out of his back bloomed into another grappling hook. Archer turned toward the voice and found the mysterious Miss Azure sitting at a table with a modified harpoon gun laying at her feet._

_“ **You**.” the homunculi growled. “How did—”_

_“Now now, I’d rather remain anonymous.” she chided and rose to her feet. “Here’s hoping you get the point to this little military operation.”_

_“I’m gonna **kill** you!”_

_“Alas, that’s not what Fate has in store.”_

_While Archer’s men tore apart the floor so Envy’s impromptu prison and him could be removed, Nicollete vanished into the rapidly gathered crowd. From the sidelines, she giggled as the homunculi was loaded into the back of a military transport and waved at him as Archer drove away._

* * *

  

            Everything suddenly made so much more sense and Sheska's body shook with restrained fury as the same revelation kept repeating over and over in her mind. 

_That’s_ why Nicollete set Envy up. He killed him.  _Envy killed Brigadier General Hughes._


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the wait! My computer broke so I had to get a new one.

* * *

  

          She became aware of a hand on her shoulder, a hand that she might have once welcomed. Might have drawn comfort from during times of uncertainty.

But **_no longer._**

            Full of impotent anger and breaths coming raggedly Sheska threw off the warm hand from her. As he stumbled back in surprise, Envy stared baffled by her sudden shift of emotion.

            “It was _you_.” Sheska hissed, her body shaking with mounting rage. “ _That’s_ why Nicollete set you up. _It makes so much sense._ You killed him! _You killed Brigadier General Hughes.”_

            She could see her words cut Envy like a knife and took pleasure in watching his face crumple. But the guilt and misery Sheska saw did not really console her grief, it only infuriated her more.

            “How could you?” she hissed numb with shock and rage. “He had a _family_ , a _daughter_. Do you know what you did to Elicia? What it’s been like on her?”

            “Better than you think.” Envy murmured his expression turning unreadable.

            “Shut up!” Sheska screamed. “You murdered _my friend!_ After I was fired, when no one else would give me a chance, _he did_. He was the nicest, most kind person in the world. _And you shot him!_ ”

            Envy’s gaze slid from her face to just past her shoulder and he deliberately slid their pack down to the ground.

            “Why?” angry tears began to blind her eyes, choking her voice. “Why would you do something so… _horrible_? _Why?_ Just the time we’ve been stuck with each other I’ve seen you pull some screwed up stunts. Did you get some sick pleasure out of it? Is _that_ it?!”

            “Would you shut up and get over here?” He snapped, his eyes not moving from that spot over her shoulder.

            Going back to the impossible and demanding monster he had been to her at first. That enraged her more than the revelation about Hughes. She didn’t understand him! After all they had been through, all the adventures, the things they shared… _weren’t they past this_?

            Why wouldn’t he explain the reason behind Hughes’s murder? Why wasn’t he trying to defend his actions? But more importantly why was he pushing her away!

            “No!” she argued. “Not until you tell me why!”

            “There’s a bear behind you.” He told her in an uneasy voice.

            Sheska sputtered, bristling with indignation. How _dare_ he! Trying to distract her by lying to her. There wasn’t anything behind her, he was trying to make her stop pushing for answers. _No more!_

_“Stop lying to me!”_ she screamed just before she heard a telltale growl and the shadow of a considerable size rose from behind.

            It happened so fast. The claw of the massive bear came down toward Sheska’s face. She cowered down, throwing up her arm in fear. A weight came crashing down upon her. Blood flew in the air and a pain filled cry echoed in the trees.

            And yet Sheska felt nothing. No pain, no icy chill of death. _Nothing_. Gingerly, she opened her eyes and saw what she had missed in the chaos of the attack.

            It was not she whom the bear had managed to attack. It was not her blood that oozed from her fallen form. She was safely out of danger… _but Envy?_

            Across his back from shoulder to waist, the homunculus was laid open. It was Envy who had thrown himself bravely in the way and took the blow that was meant for her. He lifted his head, his face a mask of pain and agony, wordlessly urging her to run.

            It was déjà vu all over again. Sheska found herself once more watching as her thoughtlessness led to another’s death. First, she had stupidly run away and caused Nicollete to throw herself in front of a barrage of bullets meant for her. And now she again foolishly ignored the dangers around her and Envy was the one lying bloody from a bear she clearly drew to them.

            Something inside her snapped. Sheska climbed to her feet, furious at her vulnerability and the naivety she had lived her life with for so long. Her breath burned in her throat as a sense of conviction filled her. She drew a deep breath and told herself not to tremble before making her move.

            “Hey you!” she screamed jumping up and down drawing the attention of the bear to her. Sheska scooped up a rock from the ground and threw it as hard as she could at the animal’s face. It struck the bear right between the eyes and it took a step toward her in anger.

            “Come over here, y’ugly fuzzy poop stain!”

            The bear seemed to take exception to her impersonation of Envy and charged. Sheska took off running, leading the bear away from the fallen man. She darted between trees, moving first in one direction and then the other, pausing only to catch her breath and gather rocks to throw.

            _Left. Just a bit further._ Something whispered inside her. _Eyes up._

She had no time to question the cryptic voice as she was forced all in one move to spin and throw a rock when the bear drew too close. It was stunned for a moment and allowed Sheska time to put more space between them but soon ran after her again.

            Further she ran and realized just seconds before the bear came crashing out from the bushes after her what the odd voice meant. Sheska quickly pushed aside her hesitation and trusted the knowledge she was given.

            She put in every bit of energy she still possessed into running faster toward the forest edge in front of her. Seconds from the end, she jumped, arching her body up and grasped the branch above her. The bear helpless to stop, ran beneath the dangling human and right over the cliff’s edge.

            The last of her strength gave out and the former librarian slipped from the tree, landing in a heap. Shaken and gasping for air she crawled over to the cliff and looked down. Many feet below, the bear lay on its side with no signs of life to behold.

            _I killed a bear!_ Sheska’s mind shrieked as her body began to feel the dull ache from racing so fiercely. _I actually killed a bear! And I saved Envy!_

“Envy!” she gasped jolted out of her thoughts. “He’s still…I gotta.”

            Nearly collapsing back onto the ground, she rose in one near fluid motion and stumbled back to where she believed the initial encounter with the bear occurred. Once again utilizing the knowledge the voice let slip, Sheska found the place almost too easily. Envy was still on the ground, bleeding from the gouges left in his back. He had managed to move just a short distance before passing out, his arms still outstretched.

            But something else seemed different since the last time she had seen him. The red designs on his back Sheska had only faintly recalled were now strangely absent. White lightning began to spark and flicker until fully fading revealing the most extreme of differences. Shoulder length blond hair spread out around him.

            “Envy?” she called out as she knelt beside and reached out to touch him.

            “Don’t look.” She heard that strange yet familiar voice weakly reply. He moved his out stretched arms to cover his face, “Don’t look at me.”

            Sheska hesitated, blinking with bewilderment before something clicked in her brain _._ A new unexpected warmth surged through her as she reached out once more and buried her hand in his surprisingly soft thick hair.

            “Okay then, let’s talk.” and she heard him snort in response. “What do I need to do to treat your back? Is there any herbs...?”

            “Lavender and balsam fir. Not far.” He replied and she untangled her fingers from his hair. She went to their discarded pack and brought back the sleeping bag that she gingerly draped over Envy.

            “I’ll be back.”

            As she turned to leave she heard a grunt and something clattered at her feet. Sheska looked down and saw Marta’s blade where Envy had flung it.

            “You should just leave me.” She heard him say as she bent down and took the blade.

            “I won’t.” she responded. “Not until you tell me why Hughes had to die. You owe it to me.”


	31. Chapter 31

            The whispering inside her head was beginning to hurt by the time she discovered the weed looking purple flowers along their previous path. The pain had turned to a nonstop ache by the time she had gathered fir needles and pulled off some bark.

            Sometime later, Sheska trudged back to Envy who still laid motionless from when she had left. He jolted in place when she dumped the assembled herbs nearby and a shadowy eye peeked out at her.

            “What now?” she asked flopping down next to him.

            “Get the thermos cup, put in some water, then the lavender and needles and grind them with a rock until you get a paste.”

            “And that’ll treat your injury?” Sheska asked as she gathered the material together. “You’re not lying or anything?”

            “It’ll keep it from getting infected.” He noticed her wincing. “Save some of the lavender for you. It’ll help with your head.”

            Sheska set some of the blooms aside and began working on the poultice. The scent wasn’t unpleasant, in fact the scent of fresh green mixed with the lavender’s sweet floral scent soothed her headache.

            “You actually read about this in a book?” she asked in a friendly tone as she mashed the two herbs with the rock.

            “For the most part.”

            She noticed the distance in his voice and snorted. She decided to nip this problem right then and there.

            “Okay, you lie and that’s fine. But let’s try to be honest for once.” Sheska snapped impatiently. “You haven’t been using your powers because you wanted to conserve energy for fights against homunculi, you’ve been conserving energy to keep up that stupid ugly goth-emo form.”

            She ground the rock firmer into the cup between her knees.

            “Guess what, jerk: You’re at your limit. You can’t keep that shape up anymore unless you really wanna die.”

            “What would you say if I told you I did?” he asked and she very nearly threw the cup at his head.

            “Don’t you _dare_ try to get out of everything by keeling over!” She growled pounding the rock into the cup. “That’s not how things work, mister. You do something wrong, you _man up_ and make up for it no matter how long it takes.”

            Sheska heard him chuckle and she nearly blushed at how sexual that laugh sounded in the dusk. He laid down on his side with a strangled oof.

            “I’m tired.”

            “Don’t fall asleep.” She quietly told him. “You fall asleep, you won’t wake up.”

            “It’s what I deserve.” Envy replied his words beginning to slur together. “I’m a monster…broke my promise…to her.”

            Sheska grabbed the cup and crawled over to Envy’s side. She touched where she believed his shoulder to be.

            “What promise?”

            “Promised Nicollete no more killing. But I... _had_ to.” He murmured drifting off into silence. Sheska shook him and he continued. “She _needed_ me to. He would have ruined everything.”

            “Who?” Sheska asked fearing the answer.

            “My mother.” Envy revealed and Sheska’s eyes widened. “She told me Hughes was onto us. That he knew Sloth was Juliet Douglas and Pride manipulated the records.”

            “Wait...your master… _Dante_ …is your _mother_?”

            “I didn’t want her to abandon me too. Had to be a _good son_ and obey…even if I didn’t want to.” Envy began drifting off again so Sheska shook him awake and he hissed in pain.

            “So that’s why you killed the Brigadier General.” She said to him sadly. “You didn’t want Dante to leave you like your father did. You couldn’t bear if she hated you too.”

            “I was just born.” He shuddered beneath the blanket. “I was confused, my whole body was in agony but everything would be okay…because I saw _Father_ and he could fix _anything_.”

            “But he called me an abomination and a monster. I could _see_ it, he actually _hated_ me. And then he ran. Ran and never stopped.” Envy turned to her. “Tell me even though every bad thing I did was for her, does that make me a monster Sheska?”

            Tears began to form in her eyes and she silently shook her head.

            “No, it doesn’t.”

            “Even if I tried to kill my younger brothers?”

            Her body stiffened in shock.

            “What?”

            “Pull the sleeping bag down. You’ll understand.”

            Sheska tugged the covers down off of Envy’s face and blinked in surprise. Familiar eyes the color of the sun. Recognizable features belonging to a well-known friend.

**_It all suddenly made sense._ **

            “You-you’re their...” Sheska couldn’t complete her sentence and merely sat there tongue tied as one side of his mouth quirked up.

            “You _could_ say, I was once Edward and Alphonse’s brother.” Envy revealed. “In a failed human transmutation of a son who died prematurely of mercury poisoning, Hohenheim created the very first homunculi.”

            “You.”

            Sheska looked down at the cup in her hands helplessly silent and discovered a fine paste inside. She grasped upon the chance to break the uncomfortable stillness.

            “Got the paste, now what?”

            “Dump it.” He answered, his eyes drifting closed. “Don’t care whether it’s on my back or the ground.”

            She hesitated, torn by conflicting emotions. Where was his bravado? Where was the fury and strength that carried him through centuries? Was he injured _that_ badly? Why was he giving up when he was so close to achieving his goal?

            Sheska forced her thoughts aside and knelt down next to Envy. His breathing was slightly uneven as she brushed aside the sleeping bag so to fully examine the homunculi’s injuries. She let out a hiss at the sheer damage she saw.

            “I’m surprised you’re conscious.” She commented turning her head this way and that, trying to figure out where to begin.

            “’M studier than I look.” Envy murmured. “Must..run in..family.”

            “True.” Sheska replied with a wince. Looking at the gash once more, she couldn’t help but feel rapidly overwhelmed in the face of the situation. _Where to start?_ Almost as if he read her mind, Envy responded.

            “Here.” He pushed himself up a little and scooted closer with a grunt then laid his head down in her lap. “Now start from the middle, and spread it out from there.”

            “Thanks.” She said breathless and red faced despite the urgent situation they were in.  She picked up the cup with shaky hands, tipped down the container and began pour out the concoction.

            The moment it hit the wound, Envy hissed and clenched his fist, clawing the ground beneath him.

            “You ok?”

            “Wasn’t expecting it.” The homunculi said in a strangled voice, his eyes squeezed shut. His body shuddered and Sheska saw him physically urge it to relax regardless of the pain. She waited until she saw his breathing even before asking.

            “You ready?”

            “Sure.”

            Her touch at first was faint and light but grew braver so that soon she felt the heat coming from his muscled frame. Outwardly content, he nuzzled her lap and Sheska’s eyes shot open as she looked down startled.

            _He looks like a child._ she thought with a fond smile. _Completely relaxed and trusting as he … **wait**_. She gently shook him and his eyes lazily opened.

            “You have to stay awake.”

            “Why?”

            “I still need you to get me to your dad.”

            “No you don’t.” Envy told her, looking up at her with some undecipherable emotion. “You haven’t needed me for a long time.”

            “But what about when Sloth and Wrath...?” she demanded and he cut her off.

            “You weren’t ever in danger.”

            “The bear...” Sheska sputtered and again Envy interrupted.

            “Isn’t here anymore, is it?” he smiled weakly. “And _why_ is that?”

            Disjointed thoughts and reasons came and went through her mind but in the end Sheska knew Envy was right. She was strong enough to finish the journey on her own. She mastered her visions well enough to reach Resembool and Hohenheim. She could easily avoid any traps Dante would set before her.

            But something kept Sheska from moving forward and the undeniable and dreadful fact was it was Envy. She couldn’t leave him in the condition he was in, knowing full well how he got that way. After all that Envy had done for her, how he shaped her into what she was now…

            _No_ , _they’re all excuses._ She told herself comprehending the truth. Sheska closed her eyes and took a deep breath, telling herself not to falter.

            “I’m not going to abandon you.”

            Envy blinked up at her in surprise and she continued.

            “I won’t... no I _refuse_ be like everyone else. I’m not deserting you when you need me. We’re _friends_ and that’s what friends…”

            Sheska’s eyes shot open and she went silent as something soft and warm touched her cheek.

            “Okay.” Envy told her huskily. “I’ll stay awake.”

            “Want to play another game of I’ve never?” she asked nervously as Envy’s hand fell away from her cheek. He shook his head.

            “You set up camp and _I’ll_ talk.” Envy told her.

            “About what?” Sheska asked sliding her legs out from underneath him. She stood and dusted off her backside.

            “About me.” He replied matter of fact. “From beginning to end.”


	32. Chapter 32

            The fire was lit and ringed with stones. Envy’s wounds were covered in strips from Sheska’s clothing and his. The sleeping bag was spread out and they were both lying comfortably beneath the stars. They were prepared for the long night to come.

            “My father was born in the slums in the ancient city that once stood where Central is. But through his knowledge of rare and arcane things—history, alchemy, he found his way into the home of one Lady Dante.”

            “My mother was a marvel of her time. Blessed – _or cursed_ _depending on your way of thinking_ , with both beauty and a keen intelligence. It was thanks to her that my father had the money and method of furthering his own goals.”

            “He seduced her, didn’t he?” Sheska asked and Envy chuckled.

            “With knowledge and his good looks.”

            “Your dad sounds like a jerk.” She responded and he laughed.

            “The times back then were very different from now. It was a time of religion and superstition. People blamed witches for all their troubles and strife. It was a perfect recipe for what there was to come.”

            “My mother used her position to gather prisoners of the witch hunts and those sick to use them as alchemic ingredients to create the Philosopher’s  Stone. Because that’s how you make one. Human sacrifice.”

            “ _They didn’t_.”

            “ _They_ didn’t…but my father did. However, he didn’t take into consideration the sheer power it would take channeling all that energy. So he ended up weakened to the point of death.”

            “But he didn’t die.”

            “All because of the _love_ of a foolish woman. My mother used the stone’s power and transferred my father’s soul to a new body. The way she tells it, it was sheer impulse but I think it was more desperation. It didn’t matter she was married, even back then she was an obsessive, psychotic stalker that couldn’t leave my father alone. And my father used it to his advantage.”

            “That was the environment the human me was born into. Power was all that mattered. Well... power _and_ knowledge. My father was trying to refine his alchemy and was fascinated with machines. My mother wanted to learn more about the Gate…in addition to getting more money. I remember my mother marrying at least three men before I was ten.”

            “Why didn’t Dante try marrying you off?” Sheska asked. “Stuff like that was done during the time, right?”

            “It was…but I was the bastard son of a noblewoman and her low born lover. Best marriage offer I’d have was for a baker’s daughter, which by the way I _did_ get. And a hatter’s niece. And a blacksmith’s widow. There might have been an offer from a noblewoman but she just wanted sex.”

            “But despite being caught between two worlds, I was pretty spoiled growing up. My nannies thought I was a little golden angel. My governess, tutors and various household staff found I was just as intelligent and cunning as my parents. My father thought I hung the moon and stars. It was a good life.”

            “Until?”

            “A stupid argument. I wanted to use the Philosopher’s Stone and become immortal. My father refused, said I wasn’t ready or mature enough. I got mad and threw an experimental barometer at him. Without thinking, my father used his alchemy and it bounced back and shattered.”

            “I didn’t even bother getting the glass and mercury off, not even when he told me to. I just ran off angrier than I was before and got drunk at a bar. Only God knows what happened before my father found me in a ditch, barely conscious a week later. Afterwards I didn’t last long, died two months before I was nineteen.”

            “Did it hurt?” Sheska quietly asked him. “Dying?”

            “I don’t remember. I’d been hallucinating for a while so when it happened, it just kinda... _happened_.”

            “But you remember when your father…”

            “Yeah.”

            “Are you nervous about seeing him again?”

            “A little.”

            “If you want... I’ll deck him for you.” Sheska told him and Envy began laughing, pulling her snugly into his arms. “No seriously! I’ll pop him right in the mouth.”

            “I doubt you could punch him.” He replied, his shoulders shaking with mirth. “He’s over six foot tall, you wouldn’t be able to reach.”

            “I could if I jumped!” she retorted before Envy let out a jaw cracking yawn and snuggled closer to Sheska.

            “Don’tsleep.”

            “I’m not.” He reassured her. “So what else do you want me to talk about?”

            “Anything.” She replied with a shrug and Envy thought for a moment before saying the first thing that came to him.

            “One of your very first vision, the one about when you and Nicollete met. I thought you would have figured it out who I was then. You remember it?”

            “A cursed prince’s death is how it all begins.” She murmured.

            “Pretty close to the truth, shame you went with the parts that were about you. Take it from someone who’s known three psychics: Visions aren’t just about you. Because the Gate is where those predictions come from, they may not just be about what has or will go on around you.”

            “People are just one part of the all. Their lives and tiniest choices in it may cause impacts in the here and now. A poor boy living on the streets centuries ago ended up impacting millions of lives because of his ambition. Had he been humble and content with his lot, my mother would not have become quite the monster she is, there would be no homunculi in the world, and all the lives that went into creating at least two Philosopher Stones would have been spared.”

             “But conversely, a butcher’s wife wouldn’t have been taught alchemy and in turn Edward and Alphonse both wouldn’t have fine-tuned their own. Hell, they wouldn’t have even _been_ born. Me neither. And how many lives would have been lost or spared with just _us_ gone.”

            Envy heard gentle snoring in response and he snickered.

            “You’re a horrible listener, y’know that?”

            _Snore_

“You know, I could just close my eyes and go to sleep too.”

            _Snort_

            Envy snorted as well, “Yeah, you’re right.  Plus, your voice gets all high and grating when you get mad and I’d rather not listen to _that_.”

            _Snore_

            “So what now, hm Sheska?”

 

* * *

 

_“Have you ever thought about it?”_

_“Hm?”_

_“The what ifs.”_

_A side of his mouth turns up, “What if my father wasn’t a POS who’s liable to run out on someone than man up?”_

_She laughs, “ **That** …and what if it were possible to live a normal life.”_

_Envy looks over at her and sees her weaving a chain of white flowers from the field around them. He looks back up to the sky at the clouds above him._

_“What would you do if…”_

_“I think I’d like to travel.” He replied. “Go where I want to go and take in the sights.”_

_“Would you go alone?”_

_Envy turned towards her, “Nah. I’d have someone with me. Show them places I’d been, see it through new eyes.”_

_She examined the completed wreath of flowers and laid it on his chest before climbing to her feet. She brushed off dirt and petals from her long blue dress and white apron._

_“Well it shan’t be me you travel with.” The woman exclaimed good naturedly. “I’m much too old to go hopping about the countryside with a hot blooded young man such as yourself.”_

_Envy burst into laughter, “Young man?!”_

_“But my sweet boy, there **is** someone out there waiting for you. Someone you can reach those dreams with.” She wisely told him. “Just wait. The pieces are not quite set on the board and the game has yet to begin. But when it does, oh my sweet boy, when it does!”_

_“You and your chess references, Ms. Saretaino.”_

_“No no! Not Ms. Saretaino, **Auntie** remember?”_

_“Fine, **Auntie**.” Envy replied indulging her whim. “So, you say there’s somebody out there. Boy or girl.”_

_“Girl of course.” Nicollete said insulted. “This is for you. Despite your flirty ways in different forms and genders, I know what you prefer.”_

_Envy laughed, “Gee, thanks. **So** , you see a **girl** in my future. And she’s important… or **will** be important.”_

_“Yes, very important.”_

_“And how exactly will I know this girl? Is she going to have some telltale birthmark or will I just **know in my black lil heart in one instance that she is the one for me.”**_

_She smiled and began gathering flowers for another daisy chain._

_“Not going to tell?” Envy asked looking back at her._

_“You will fight. You will hate but you will also show her things that no one else has.” Nicollete foretold. “She will know you as **I** know you. But she will not be what you expect only what you need.”_

_Her expression turned sad, “And you will need her, my sweet boy. You will so very much need her for what is to come.”_

_Envy saw her smile then and say, “Because no matter the time it takes a promise once made will be delivered. And **I** promise **you** , my sweet child, I will grant that secret wish you hold in your heart. I will do this just for you.”_


	33. Chapter 33

The sun rose gently into the sky. Its warm rays reached out and caressed the slumbering young woman’s cheeks drawing her from the grasp of Morpheus. She stretched as she woke, a soft smile on her lips until a thought intruded.

            _I fell asleep!_

            Sheska snapped upright, fully awake with a gasp. She looked around and saw a cloth lump curled at her side, a pale arm peeking out the only sign of its human source. With icy panic rising in her throat, Sheska threw aside the blanket.

            Golden hair spread out around a somewhat handsome face peacefully slumbering. Slow even breathing loosened and tightened the half hazard bandage wrapped around his chest. Fingers twitched and Envy’s face scrunched childlike before he scooted closer to Sheska, seeking out lost warmth.

            Before Sheska could express any amusement at the cute scene, he threw an arm over her and nuzzled her side scattering all affectionate thoughts to the wind. Her breath along with the laugh caught in her lungs.

            _What do I do_ , her mind demanded. But fate answered her question as it always did. Envy’s dusky lashes fluttered and his golden eyes opened. He pulled his arm away and let out a yawn.

            “M-morning.” Sheska stammered as he blinked up at her.

            “It’s morning?” Envy asked gingerly sitting up. He rubbed his eyes and squinted up at the sky. Something seemed familiar to Sheska about their conversation and with a smile she recalled why.

            “It wouldn’t happen to be ten in the morning, would it?”

            Envy smiled also recalling the memory of their short time at the motel at the beginning of their adventure. He checked the position of the sun before responding.

            “Closer to eight.” He said stretching his arms out above him. He winced and let out a low string of curses.

            “You ok?”

            Envy heard the concern in her voice and stamped down on the urge to snap at her. Last night came with the revelation that Sheska genuinely cared for him and was concerned for him. It was a new unlikely compassion that very few ever had given him.

            “Close enough for you not to worry.” He replied and flashed her a grin. “Seems I got stones enough to heal it as much as necessary.”

            “That’s good.” She visibly relaxed, “So shall I go gather something to eat?”

            “You do realize we can’t eat that bear you off’ed yesterday.” Envy said evenly and he was surprised to see her shrug.

            “Well, yeah. It’s at the bottom of a cliff.”

            Envy blinked in surprise then smirked, “You ran a bear off a cliff?”

            Sheska saw the pride in his eyes and ducked her head, “Well he kinda ran himself off but yeah... I did.”

            He reached out; his fingers curved under her chin and tipped it up where their eyes could meet. Her hands twisted nervously together in her lap and her mind floundered.

            “You are a very odd woman, _Sheska_.” Envy told her and her cheeks burned at the sound of her name on his lips. His smile deepened into laughter.

            “And what caused _that_ reaction?”

            “St-stop messing with me.” She stammered mustering some indignation. “You always...”

            He silenced her with a gentle finger over her lips.

            “I’m being honest.”

            Sheska knocked his hand away from her, mind reeling with confusion. She had to put some distance between them. She scooted away from him, shaking her head.

            “No _no no_. You don’t like me and you lie and and.” She looked up and found him frowning cutely. “And constantly flirt!”

            A light dawned on the homunculi. He started making a choking sound that soon transformed to laughter. As he laughed, Sheska saw Envy seemed somehow younger. As if the weight of centuries of darkness slid from his shoulders

            “You should probably just ignore it. I _am_ my father’s son.” Envy told her. “He picks women up like steak to dogs.”

            “Are you calling me a dog?”

            “No!” he replied immediately sober and couldn’t help with a smirk adding, “Well~ll maybe one of those so ugly they’re cute varieties.”

            “I’m going to throw something at you.”

            “Oh don’t.” he said giving her obnoxiously cute puppy dog eyes. “I’m injured and was _merely_ _being_ _honest_.”

            Sheska gave him a bland stare before responding.

            “I think I liked it better when you lied to me.”

 

* * *

 

              “Are you okay?” Sheska asked him for the umpteenth time since they began hiking. They had abandoned the campsite, leaving behind everything except Marta’s blade, water and the lavender poultice.

            But despite the literal load off Envy’s back, with every hour that passed, the injured homunculi’s condition looked to her more and more grave. His skin was sallow and felt clammy, his breathing more labored. His cheeks were gaunt and every step appeared to take more effort than the one before.

            “Only hurts when I laugh.” Envy breathlessly responded flashing her a tired smile. “…And move.. _heh_ or breathe.”

            “Do you want to stop for a while?” She asked once more and he shook his head.

            “I’ll be fine.” He reassured her with that tell-tale grin. “I waited almost four hundred years for this day. I won’t let a little scratch stop me.”

            Sheska bit her lip and sighed heavily. _Well I_ did _kinda ask him to start lying again,_ she thought watching him lumber ahead of her. _But he knows that I know he’s lying…so why do it?_

            More questions kept slipping through her thoughts. Was he truly as sound as he claimed? Should she seek out the answers to her questions from _that_ source? What would happen if she did peek beyond the Gate? What would she see? What consequences would she face for those answers?

            Up ahead, the forest abruptly cleared and revealed lush green rolling hills and a clear blue sky. Past a stonework bridge where houses lay scattered about and beyond, Sheska sensed was another home. One where a tall blond man might wait alongside his two sons.

            Sheska found Envy resting alongside a winding dirt road looking pensively out at Resembool in the distance. She sat down and relaxed beside him, a bottomless peace and satisfaction bubbling up inside her. _They made it!_

            “Have you ever wondered?” Envy asked in a distant voice.

            “Wondered what?”

            Envy turned and looked up at her with a self-depreciative smile, “What if things were different? Like what if I had lived a normal life? What if Hohenheim hadn’t of been an ass?”

            His gaze turned thoughtful, “What if...he actually took me with him when he left? How much would thing change?”

            “You’d probably be less angry.” Sheska responded and added a minute later, “Although Ed always seems to be mad about something. So..no change there.”

            “Personally I can’t really see myself being anything other than a snarky choco fiend.” Envy laughed, “But what if I had grown up here in Resembool? Just me, green pastures and country living.”

            “Country living?” Sheska snorted, “Like apple pies in every window?”

            “And homemade bread made every Sunday.”

            She blew a raspberry at him, “ _Bor-ing_.”

            “Oh so you’ve enjoy our little adventure together.” He chuckled seeming rather pleased with himself. “Seeing me knocked so low as to be stuck in the company of a brilliantly naïve _virgin.”_

            “Hey pal, _it’s a choice!_ ” Sheska snapped and continued with a sniff, “It’s not because nobody was interested…”

            “I’m not mocking your choice.” Envy was quick to say. “In fact, I somewhat... _respect_ it.”

            She glanced over at him and saw him smile cynically.

            “Though it makes me wonder, what if my mother had done the same? What type of woman would _she_ be?”

            “Maybe a librarian.”

            Envy laughed, “Greedy for knowledge or not, my mother is _not_ the type to simply while away the hours reading unlike _you_.”

            “If you say so…” Sheska replied distantly but asked, “But what if.”

            “She’d still be a shrew.” He told her. “A nasty, back-biting, tramp with a sick fascination with a cradle-robbing mutton monger.”

            Sheska was silent, pausing to reflect for a moment. Was Dante really so evil? Genuinely inescapably wicked? For that matter, was anyone honestly an evil person?

            From everything she heard before, homunculi were vile, conniving creatures whose sole enjoyment was destroying humans. But Sheska knew that was the furthest thing from the truth. Lust still longed for a man from her human past. Greed cared for his men and seemed to consider Envy at the very least as an old friend. And Envy himself?

            Now _there_ was a complicated guy, Sheska thought sardonically. He does feel remorse for certain actions.  He’s not above apologizing when he messes up. And while he’s not the most open person with his true feelings-- _except anger_ , he does show he cares.

            _Envy always thought of me_ , Sheska admitted. _He embarrassed himself and took a form he didn’t like just to protect me. He didn’t take advantage or let anyone else when I got drunk. He trusted me with secrets hardly anyone knew._

            _Envy, a longing to possess something awarded to or achieved by another._

            “You know I used to think Dante gave you homunculi their names to be malicious. But-- I don’t think so anymore.” Sheska told him breaking the silence “Your names are actually a badge of honor!”

            Envy gave her a sidelong glance of utter bewilderment before she continued.

            “Gluttony probably eats anything…so that means he’d be good at waste disposal or demolition. Greed wants everything so it also means he wants friends and to have a friend you have to be one.”

            “And what’s so positive about envy?”

            “Envy means you know how fathers and mothers are supposed to be. Reading newspapers and baking pies. Not body swapping and seducing everything with boobs.”

            He stared at her taken aback for a moment and then burst out laughing.

            “No seriously. I’m going to punch your dad.” Sheska told him. “The whole reason your mom is after me is because your dad didn’t keep it in his pants and get money the honest way.”

            “Ow, stop it. I’m gonna open up those gashes.” Envy laughed.

            “I don’t care if his douche-ness ended up helping some butcher’s wife, your dad is a dick!”

            “So _weren’t_ asleep then.”

            “My dear sir, I do _not_ snore.”

            “Oh so we’re doing this now.” Envy said with a smirk. “Fine. _My dear lady, I have been in your presence long enough to know you do too snore and the sound t’is like a pen of hogs rooting in_ **_muck_**.”

            “Wow. You sounded almost like nobleman in a storybook there.”

            “Technically by blood, I _am_ a nobleman.” Envy replied with a shrug and got to his feet with a wince. “Come on, we can’t keep procrastinating. Time to see if the bastard’s home.”

            They trudged along the rustic road for a mile or two more before Sheska forced Envy to take another break. She tried checking his back to see to his injury but Envy swatted her away with a grimace. They were still hunched near the road when a wagon ambled and slowed down next to them.

            “You two a’right?” said the man behind the reins. At his side, his wife peered down sympathetically.

            “We’re good. Just had a brush with a grizzly.” Envy said lifting his head up and the man cocked his head and squinted.

            “Edward? Alphonse?”

            Sheska cringed and wondered exactly how her company would react being mistook for his no-so beloved brothers.

            “Not quite.” Envy said with a thin-lipped smile. He attempted to stand up fully but a wave of dizziness swept over him and he nearly collapsed.

            Sheska and the man on the wagon were quick to react. Sheska grabbed Envy’s arm and placed it over her shoulder to support him as the man hopped off his wagon. He put Envy’s other arm around him and guided him to the back of the vehicle to sit.

            “We live close by, do you need us to take you home?” the man’s wife asked turning around toward Sheska and Envy.

            “It’s ok.” Envy said giving the woman a charming grin that made her blush. Sheska rolled her eyes and the man shook his head.

            “Listen, it wouldn’t sit right leaving you here. Why don’t you two come over to our house and clean up some before heading wherever you were headed.”

            “Thank you, we accept.” Sheska said before Envy could decline. He shot her a dirty look and she returned it with a familiar overly merry grin as the man climbed back into the driver seat next to his wife. Envy snorted as Sheska sat down next to him then stuck his tongue out at her.


	34. Chapter 34

 The soothing sound of water and the cleansing feel of it cascading down her body relaxed Sheska far more than she realized. Soothed by its gentle lullaby, she was surprised to find when she stepped out of the bath that her hostess had slipped in and left something behind.

 Blue with pink flowers, spun of plain simple cotton and buttoned straight down the middle. Though it was obviously a hand-me-down from the wife, but Sheska treasured the change of clothes and immediately donned the dress.

 “Oh you look so nice!” the wife exclaimed once Sheska stepped out. “You can just keep it, ok?”

 “Oh no I couldn’t.”

 “I can’t fit in it anymore and since it’s in good condition.” The woman told her as Envy gingerly rose to take his turn in the shower. “It fits, right?”

 Sheska lowered her head, “Well, yes...”

 “Then it’s settled, shut up and accept the clothes.” Envy said as he brushed by her. He held up a bundle of clothing. “Thanks for the clothes ma’am.”

 The wife giggled, “No problem at all.”

 Once Envy was gone the wife took Sheska aside. She ushered her past her husband sitting in the kitchen drinking coffee and into the living area. The older woman sat down on the couch and invited her to sit next to her.

 “He’s quite the keeper.” The woman told her with a wink. “It’s rare to find a man who recognizes the _real_ person in charge.”

 Sheska blinked at her in confusion and the woman laughed.

 “My husband insisted he take those old clothes but no matter what he said, that boy said no. But the moment _I_ said something.” She snapped her fingers. “Not one single objection.”

 “Why am I not surprised.” Sheska snickered. “I guess his mom did _one_ thing right.”

 The wife chuckled, “Often times it’s a woman that makes the man.”

 “And sometimes it’s a man that makes the woman.” Sheska murmured unable to forget how Dante turned into the woman she was today.

 “What was that?”

 Sheska jolted in her seat and smiled sweetly, “Oh nothing! You have a lovely house.”

 “Why thank you!”

* * *

 

He cut off the water and watched the last of the red tinted liquid drift down the drain. Envy watched, his mouth tight and grim before taking a deep breath and cursed.

 “I hate being mortal.” He snapped before a knock on the door had icy fear twist around his heart.

 “You done in there?” his host inquired. “I brought you some bandages.”

 Envy had a moment to consider his options. Reveal his injuries to the kind stranger and keep hiding the extent or have Sheska find out from the telltale blood stains.

 “Let me get a towel, I uh…kinda...”

 “No need.” The man replied as he opened the door. He casually stepped inside with a first aid kit in one hand as Envy let out a surprised yip and slammed the shower curtain closed.

“Not like you got anything I don’t.”

 “True but it’s _mine_ and it’s private.” Envy countered sticking out his head from behind the curtain.

 “Prude.”

 Envy countered the man’s bland statement by angrily jerking the curtain open. His host grunted and tossed him a large fluffy white towel, which Envy wrapped around his waist.

 “You said you weren’t little Ed Elric but you act a whole lot like him.” He commented and he could almost hear the sound of Envy’s teeth grinding.

 “I’m beginning to regret going along with you.” He growled climbing out of the tub and kneeling down on the floor in front of the man. Behind Envy, his host blanched but indifference tinted his voice.

 “ _My wife_ will be disappointed.”

 Envy’s face scrunched up and asked in a soft humble tone, “Would you bandage my back, sir?”

 “Boy, you are pussy whipped.”

 “Kiss my ass, my dad ditched me and my mother was a megalomaniac.”

 “Is that why you’re in Resembool?”

 Envy had a bad feeling and stayed silent as the man helped him dress his injury. He used a large stack of sterile pads, half a container of ointment and an entire roll of gauze but not a bit of blood was seen as Envy dressed.

 The homunculi slid on the dark slacks first sans any under garments which earned him a bit of a chuckle from his host. Envy shot him a nasty look as he slipped on the gray button up shirt. He refused the man’s help tucking it in before slipping suspenders over his shoulder and carefully rested them against his back.

 When he caught his refection in the mirror feeling a bone weary exhaustion, Envy stopped being contrary and finally accepted the help the man offered. He leaned heavily on the man’s shoulder as he was guided to the kitchen and collapsed in a chair while his host went to retrieve shoes and socks.

 “You didn’t answer me when I asked what you were doing here.” He commented as he returned said the objects.

 “The less you know the better.” Envy replied snatching the socks from the man’s hands. He leaned down with a hiss and began putting the socks on when he sensed a disturbance in the air around him.

 Slowly he glanced up, seeing first a tapping foot and further up the hem of a dress. Envy heard a chuckle from the man and jerked his gaze up to see the man’s wife looking down at him in disapproval. Behind her, Sheska smothered a grin at the suddenly sheepish look Envy gave the woman.

 “Is he giving you trouble, dear?” she asked, her voice heavy with reproach. Envy’s eyes went wide and shook his head.

 “Eh, he’s just being like our boy was at that age.” Her husband replied and both Envy and Sheska exchanged amused looks. She motioned him to sit up which he did without question.

 “Sheska never said but what brings you two to Resembool.” the wife asked sweetly. “Visiting family?”

 “Yup, how’d you guess?” Envy replied with an overly happy grin Sheska recognized.

 “You must be on your way to Pinako’s.” The wife joyfully clapped her hands together. “Why Edward and Alphonse came back just yesterday.”

 “Per~fect.” The homunculi replied evenly. “So what gave away that Micro Midget and his talking cookware were my brothers.”

 “You _did_ say you were visiting family and no one but the Elrics looks like you.” The woman replied proudly.

 Envy scowled, feeling a tug on his ankle. He looked down to see the man had not only put socks on his feet but had just finished tying the last shoe. The older man gave him a cheeky grin as he stood up and Envy laughed.

 “Sneaky.”

 “Former military recon.” The man revealed. “Glad to hear I still got it.”

 Standing, Envy straightened his shoulders, stretching the bindings around his chest and cleared his throat.

 “Suppose we should be leaving now.”

 “Thank you for all your hospitality.” Sheska said as they walked toward the door. The couple followed them until the man seemed to recall something. He ducked away for a moment and returned with a thread bare trench coat and fedora.

"Our boy... he," the man said, his voice breaking. He gathered himself and cleared his throat before finishing his statement. "He doesn't have much use for such things anymore."

With a knowing nod, Envy gave him an honest smile, one true to a moniker he might have once held and thanked him. 


	35. Chapter 35

  “You look nice.” Sheska commented out of the blue.

  They had waved goodbye to the couple and continued on their journey shortly after noon. Envy had pulled back his long hair and tied it with a strip from his previous outfit before donning his borrowed hat.

  For a while now, Envy caught Sheska aiming not so discrete glances in his direction. He was a tad curious why but never really found the right time to ask. Now he knew the reason why she looked. 

 “Is it because you find me attractive or because I’m wearing gender appropriate clothing?”

 “Narcissist.”

 “Fashion cop.”

 “How long has it been since you wore men’s wear?” when he gave her a funny look she added “For curiosity sake.”

 “Three, four months ago.” Envy answered. “Nicollete dared me to. _Heh_. She always knew how to push my buttons.”

 Sheska laughed, “Was that the last time you looked like you do now?”

 “No, _that_ was over one hundred years ago.” Envy responded as they walked. “Greed and I went bar hopping and we had a competition on who could get the most free drinks. So~ I went out like this.”

 “I see.” Sheska said with a knowing look.

 “No actually you don’t.” he replied with a grin. “Greed cheated and told everyone I was _a prie_ st. Not _one person_ wanted to buy me a drink with the threat of _‘eternal damnation’_ hanging over their heads.”

 Sheska busted up with a laugh, “ _You?_ A priest?”

 “Yeah I know. Can you picture it? _Father_ Alighieri.”

 “Alighieri? I thought ...” Sheska said her, brow puckered and Envy shook his head.

 “My last name always was the same as my mother’s. Remember? _Illegitimate_.”

 “So Ed and Al have your father’s last name?”

 “Mmm, no Hohenheim took _Trisha’s_ name. There _are_ cultures where men do that.”

 “Ah.”

 Envy stared at her from beneath the rim of his borrowed hat. He watched as her brow unconsciously furrowed and she drew her lips in thoughtfully. She was deep in thought once more and his mouth curved into an unconscious smile.

 “What has you suddenly thinking so hard?”

 “Something Greed said to Marta.” Sheska responded and she looked up at him. “He knew, didn’t he? That you and Ed were…”

 “ _Brothers?”_ Envy snorted. “Maybe. Greed isn’t exactly the most observant person but it really doesn’t take a genius to figure it out.”

 Sheska smiled, “I think he’s more perceptive than you think. He knows who to give his loyalty to.”

 “If only he was the same about who he gave his heart to.”

 When she regarded him with innocent curiosity, Envy continued.

 “You realize that he’s in love with my mother. Even as a human, he loved her.” Envy smirked “Still the same dimwitted lovesick fool as before.”

 “Seems not even death can change a person.” he said as he hid his gaze beneath the brim of his hat. “We can deny it as much as we want but deep down, homunculi really are the same as the humans _they_ wanted back.”

 “And that’s a bad thing?” Sheska asked tilting her head to the side. “From what I can see, it doesn’t matter whether you’re a human or homunculus. We both live and feel the same." 

“What I mean is if you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?"

 “Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice.” Envy replied with a chuckle. “I notice you left out the part about poisoning and dying.”

 “It doesn’t normally apply to you but you understand, right?” Sheska asked. “Whatever your dad said before, he was wrong. You’re not a monster or an abomination. You are my chocolate loving, constantly lying, smart ass friend who can kick butt and makes a mean campfire.”

 “And your _father_ is the _stupidest_ , _nastiest_ chicken-hawk in existence!” she added and Envy burst into laughter. “If he has the nerve to say one nasty thing to you, I’m going to call him on _his_ crap.”

 “Your insults suddenly got better.” He giggled gripping his side. “I’m such a horrible influence.”

 “You are not. But your dad certainly is, _the jerk_.” Sheska responded with a harrumph. “You know Ed and Al were real lucky he decided to cut and run before he screwed them up.”

 “You’re so mean, Sheska.” Envy said pulling her against his side. “Now I think I understand why Nicollete wanted me to meet you.”

 “Oh why?”

 “Because you can be as nasty as I can.”

 Sheska smacked the back of his shoulder and marched ahead of him with a huff.

 “I am not nasty.” She shouted back to Envy. “I am a _respectable_ young lady.”

 The homunculus snickered as he touched the spot that she struck. His jovial expression slid to solemnity even before he looked down at his hand and the crimson blood on his fingertips.

 “Let’s see about keeping it so.” He murmured wiping away the tell-tale stain on the dark slacks. “It’ll be easier that way.”

* * *

  

 The sun was high in the sky and the day grew warmer. Birds flew around doing as birds do as the two travelers reached the end of their journey one step at a time. The silence between them was comfortable and each spoke with friendly glances or a fleeting smile.

 But however lovely their silence might have been, all good things must come to an end.

 “There it is!” Sheska cried pointing ahead.

 At the end of the stone edged road a two story yellow painted home stood. Edged in a spring green with a matching green balcony, Sheska felt a sense of fulfilment overwhelm her. Almost in a daze she wandered ahead racing for the door and the safety it promised. Sheska had already knocked twice before Envy reached the end of the porch. Within they heard muffled voices and a dog barking. Bouncing eagerly on her toes, Sheska waited for the door to open and a familiar friendly face to step out.

 Slowly the door cracked open until a young lady was revealed dressed in dark tube top with a pair of coveralls with the top pulled down and sleeves tied at her side.  Beneath the red bandana, long blond hair flowed out to her sides in a ponytail while blue eyes blinked at Sheska in shock.

 “Sheska!” Winry Rockbell cried and suddenly hugged her tightly to her. Behind her, Edward and Alphonse Elric raced toward the door and threw it open.

 Envy hid his grin as the brothers began pelting their friend with question after question. He turned to leave knowing that his companion would be safe with his brothers until their father arrived but then he heard it.

 “Son?”

 Envy froze as a tall bearded blond man stepped outside from behind Alphonse. His golden eyes lit up with excitement and hope as he took another step toward the young man hunched into the borrowed trench coat.

 “It _is_ you, isn’t it?” Hohenheim said with a smile taking another step toward his prodigal son. He reached for him. “ _Envy_ …”

_“Stop!”_ the homunculi bellowed causing his father to draw back his hand as if bitten.

 “You can't just show up and start acting like a father. Not after everything _you’ve_ done.” Envy told Hohenheim without even turning around to face him. “The name _you_ gave me. _Abandoning_ me, leaving me with _her_. Replacing me…”

 “I didn’t replace you.” His father argued. “Nothing could replace a child.”

 “Oh?” Envy snapped finally spinning on Hohenheim. “What about the son that you had before? Y’know the one who _died of mercury poisoning_.”  
 Hohenheim’s face fell and Envy was relentless.

 “ _I’m not him_. You made that quite apparent _day one_ or do my memories deceive me?” he demanded. “Why so silent?! You were rather vocal when we last spoke. _Monster, abomination_.”

 “What words did you first say to _them_?” Envy asked as he pointed to Alphonse and Edward, both silently watching the dark reunion in front of them. “I doubt they were as cruel and brutal as the ones you said when _I_ was born.”

 “Did you decide to walk out on them right then or did you wait until you discovered the necrosis? _Judging from the look on your face, that’s exactly what you did._ You didn’t want to let your ‘perfect little family’ watch you die.”

 “Daddy?” Alphonse said in a tiny voice and Hohenheim sadly smiled.

 “I’m sorry. The thought of it was too much for me to bear.” He revealed to his younger son’s horror. Full of cheerless determination, he pulled up his sleeve and revealed decayed flesh hidden beneath.

 “I just couldn't let you see me like this.”

 “Where was this concern hundreds of years ago?” Envy cried forcing back tears. “Where was it when _I_ was born? Or when you slaughtered _thousands_ for the sake of your curiosity? Or when you sank an entire city?”

 With each declaration more and more Sheska’s heart broke for the tragic homunculus and the life that could have been.

 “I learned it from Trisha.” Hohenheim revealed his voice barely above a whisper. “Not a day after her and I were married, I told Trisha all about you.”

 “Bet she _loved_ that.” Envy replied with a snort of disbelief.

 “She wanted to meet you very badly.” His father revealed. “She used to light a candle on your birthday every year. May 27th right?”

 “26th you idiot!” Envy snapped. “God, you can’t get even _one thing_ right!”

 He turned and began to leave, ignoring Sheska’s cry.

 “Keep Sheska away from my mother, do that much at least!” Envy paused and said over his shoulder in a gentler tone. “Ed, Al: hold him to it. Don’t let him ditch her like he did us.”

 He began walking away. Sandy colored dust puffed up from beneath his feet with every slow step. The wind blew, sending the pilfered fedora skittering off his head and caressed his sweat soaked cheek. His breaths came out in pained gasps and he struggled to focus on getting away. He felt a hand on his shoulder and a familiar voice kindly call him son before the world slipped away.

 Hohenheim caught his son as his knees buckled and gently eased him to the ground. He noticed how much paler Envy had become since their talk and how clammy his skin looked. When he drew away the hand supporting his son’s back, Hohenheim was startled to find blood.

 He immediately scooped the boy up and carried him the short way back to Pinako’s. His younger sons watched with concern as their father brushed past them and Sheska into the house.

_“Pinako!”_


	36. Chapter 36

 “We stitched him up as best as we could.” Pinako told everyone some hours later. “What did you say cut him up that bad, girl?”

 “A bear.” Sheska replied miserably. “I thought he was okay with the poultice… and he never said he was in pain--”

 “Sounds like someone else we know.” Winry said in a wry tone as she dried her hands. “Right Edward?”

 “Yeah, yeah.” He replied petulantly rolling his eyes.

 “He’s lucky to have passed out when he did.” Pinako added with a snort. “He’s even luckier to be alive. Most people would have gone into shock with over seventy stitches and no anesthesia.”

 “You didn’t _use_ anything?” Sheska cried incredulously but before she could say anymore Pinako cut her off.

 “He woke up somewhat while Winry and I cleaned him up. Told us not to waste the effort, his body would have just flushed it out.”

 “And I doubt he realized who we were. Kept called us different names. Master, Lori…” Winry smirked and cut her eyes towards Sheska. “He also kept calling out _your_ name.”  
 Hohenheim chuckled as Sheska blushed and started stammering.

 “ _Nothing happened!_ We’ve just been around one another a lot. Yeah, barely been apart.. _that’s it_.” And then she spun on and glared darkly at Hohenheim.

 “And what are _you_ laughing at?”

 “Does Envy have more friends like you?” he inquired the warmth of his smile echoing in his voice.

 “Maybe you would know if you hadn’t ditched him with his demented mother.” Sheska muttered.

 “What the?!” Ed exclaimed almost jumping to his feet. “ _Dante_ is Envy’s _mother_?”

 “Oh so you know? Technically speaking she’s the mother of the son that Hohenheim tried resurrecting that created Envy.” Sheska explained with a knitted brow, lips pursed in thought and then shrugged. “But that’s just semantics.”

 “Explains a few things doesn’t it.” Hohenheim commented with a weary smile reminiscent of Envy’s own and Ed started grinding his teeth.

 “So you two were _lovers_ and had a _son_ together.” he growled as if holding a raw emotion barely in check. “Living like gods lording over us _lowly mortal_. So tell me if you and that evil _witch_ were so perfect together, why did you feel the need to marry my mother?!”

 Sheska felt a chill in the air as the room turned eerily silent that was broken by Winry’s stammered excuse before she quickly left the room to check on Envy. With slow deliberate movements, Hohenheim rose to his full impressive height, his burning eyes held his son still, glowing with a savage inner fire.

 “I loved your mother. With all my heart.”

  _“I wonder if you'll ever understand how much of me belongs to you.”_

_“I have never loved until you, Trisha. Never.”_

 Sheska began to blush as more and more husky confessions of Hohenheim to his wife echoed and blurred together inside her mind.

_“The sweetest of all sounds is that of the voice of the woman I love.”_

_“Who taught you how to make me love you more.”_

 Blood pounded in her brain as burning, fiery and mildly X-rated sounds from long ago echoed inside her mind. Spots began to appear as Sheska clinched her eyes shut against the onslaught.

 Just as she would have given in to the madness violating her thoughts, glass shattered and a shout from upstairs broke the spell. Edward and Hohenheim were both halfway up the stairs before Sheska shook away the last remnants of her vision and followed. 

It was an odd but not quite unexpected sight which greeted the three that was soon witnessed by Alphonse as well. Her jaw clenched, struggling to hold both upright, stood Winry with Envy sprawled over the top of her unconscious. A quiet clink broke the silent taboo and all eyes went to the pair of scissors that fell from Envy’s limp hand.

 “Tell me he didn’t.” Sheska moaned as Hohenheim shouldered his way in and lifted his son. Winry let out a happy sigh once the burden on her back vanished.

 “Did he seriously…?” Edward inquired as Envy was set back down on the bed and Winry stretched her arms and back. “He … _with a pair of_ …”

 “Are you all right, Winry?” Alphonse asked and was greeted with a smile.

 “Perfectly fine. “she answered. “Envy _did_ try something but the moment he got a hold of me, guess the pain got be too much and he dropped.”

 “Why the heck would he _do_ something like that?” Sheska cried marching over to Envy’s side. She shoved Hohenheim back and began poking Envy’s shoulder, “You’re an idiot. A swaggering meat headed weirdo with daddy issues. Stay in bed, you hear me?”

 “A little too well.” Came a weak replied. Sheska gasped and saw Envy blinking up at her amused. He moved to sit up and she smacked his arm.

 “Stay down.”

 “Where are we?” he asked with a wince.

 “You’re at my house in Resembool.” Winry spoke up as she stepped forward and stuck out her hand, “Winry Rockbell, automail mechanic and Ed and Al’s friend.”

 “Ah so _you’re_ Winry.” Envy said with a smile as he shook her hand and she blushed. “Sorry about earlier. Last thing I remember clearly was walking with Sheska.”

 “So you don’t remember tearing into the old man?” Ed said from the door. At his older brother’s puzzled look, Ed pointed to the man standing quietly off to the side.

 “Bet it was something.” Envy responded turning to face the wall, avoiding looking at anyone. “So…”

 “He told Al and me who you were when he heard you were coming. Explains the things you said in Lab five. Heh.. explains _a lot_ really.”

 “I never did like being replaced.” Envy peeked over at Ed when he caught some movement and saw Ed brought over a chair.

 “So we’re brothers, Dante’s your mom and the old man is dying after living for a few centuries. Anything else we’re missing?”

 “Other than my mother’s after Sheska because she possesses the same abilities as a friend of mine.” Envy casually responded with a sardonic grin.

 Envy turned toward everyone to see Ed do a double-take while his father shook his head.

 “So Sheska is the one with ESP not Saretaino or her daughter.” Edward said blankly.

 “Oh no, they both had the ability. When Auntie came through the Gate it gave her the power to see the future and when she died, it passed to her daughter.”

 “And when she died, it went to Azure.”

 “Correct.”

 “So how did the power pass to Sheska?” Winry asked. “It sounds like it passes from mother to child when they die. So why did it go to her?”

 “Toward the end of her life, Auntie told my mother that it was possible to give the ability to another.” Envy revealed. “But she foretold that it wasn’t going to be her who revealed how.”

 “Then who?” Al asked. “And how?”

 “Let’s see if I can remember what she said to her. Ah yes: _When the time concludes for the last of my line, there will be one present who will know the answer. If you find that one, then they can give you what you seek. But chose your actions wisely. You are not the only player_.”

 “Talk about vague.” Sheska fumed. “Why can’t prophecies be precise? None of this _‘you are not the only player’_ bull.”

 Her friends blinked at her in shock. This wasn’t like the meek Sheska they knew before her journey with Envy.

 He chuckled, “So mean.”

 “So do _you_ know who she meant, Peanut gallery?”

 “Well Miss Snarker, there were only two people who are still alive when Nicollette keeled over. You and me—and _I_ don’t know how she did it.”

 “Well _I_ don’t know either.”

 “But you can ask the Gate to show you.” Envy replied. “Remember? All humans have an inner gate and yours taps into the knowledge of the big one.”

 “You said it demands a price and we don’t know what the headaches really are.” Sheska argued.

 “It took my entire body when we tried bringing mom back” Al exclaimed. “It could be taking out chunks of Sheska’s brain!”

 “Get a grip, rust bucket. Azure may have been a ruthless tactician— _if her chess game were any clue_ —but she valued her friends.” Envy told him. “She’d never do anything that would endanger Sheska.”

 “True, she did promise... _wait_.” Excitement bubbled up within her chest. Envy rolled to his side and with a bit of help from Winry sat up in the bed.

 “On the train when we first met, I had a vision about when she died…and I have a photographic memory so…”

 “You don’t need the Gate!” Envy exclaimed “Because..”

 “Everything we need to know is in my memories.” Sheska finished. She closed her eyes. “Let’s see…”

 “The soldiers were firing cannons, trying to shoot Envy before he got ahold of them. There was screaming, the scent of blood and tears. Nicollette was apologizing for getting me involved, that it was her fault she was dying. I told her it was my fault and.. _she smiled_.”

 Sheska had missed it before, once when it occurred and the other in the vision. Nicollette had smiled before she passed on. Something about Sheska’s words was humorous to her. But what?

_She will know you as **I** know you. But she will not be what you expect only what you need. And you will need her, my sweet boy. You will so very much need her for what is to come._

_When the time concludes for the last of my line, there will be one present who will know the answer. If you find that one then they can give you what you seek. But chose your actions wisely. You are not the only player._

_The pieces are not quite set on the board and the game has yet to begin. But when it does, oh my sweet boy, when it does!_

 “Oh my gosh.” Sheska whispered finally seeing how the puzzle pieces fit together. “All three of them, bit by bit. The prophesy, their deaths, Nicollette’s maiming, the promise to Envy, even choosing me.”

 She opened her eyes, “I know who the other player is! It’s all three of them: Saretaino, Loria and Nicollette Azure. All three of them, they planned everything!”

 “Not what I was looking for but just as good.” Envy commented.

 “So, these women are playing a long game against Dante but to what end?” Hohenheim asked. “What was so important that they would surrender their very lives? Sacrifice even their children to it?”

 “Loria knew but I couldn’t see what it was.” Sheska told him. “But it must have been something huge.”

 “Or maybe it’s just one simple action that’ll bring about a change that’ll affect the world.” Envy replied. “Do you remember what I told you last night?”

 Sheska shook her head so he continued.

 “It’s not just one big event that can alter the world, a one unassuming decision can do the same. Centuries ago one kid’s ambition altered millions of lives. Because of him, there are homunculi in the world, the secret of creating a Philosopher’s Stone. But it was his decision of teaching alchemy to his lover that had the largest impact. That woman then taught a butcher’s wife and she in turn taught alchemy to two little boys that are now standing here ready to kick my sociopath of a mother’s ass.”

 Envy turned toward Ed and Al and gave them the biggest sarcastically happy smile he could muster.

 “So you see, you learned everything you know about alchemy from _dear old dad_. Don’t you feel great knowing you followed in his sinful footsteps. First human transmutations next step: body snatching!”

 Ed lunged toward him but his father and Alphonse held him back.

 “Or even better, killing thousands to create a Philosopher’s Stone.” Envy told him. “Hey, you already have a good start… _sacrificing your brother how you did.”_

 This time Hohenheim had to hold both his son’s back and Sheska smacked Envy on the shoulder.

 “Why do you always feel the need to insult everyone?” she demanded with her hands on her hips. “I _told_ you it wasn’t funny.”

 “No, you told me flirting with you wasn’t funny.”

 Hohenheim didn’t need to hold his sons back any longer and turned to look at his eldest with interest.

 “No flirting _or_ insults. Playful or otherwise.”

 “But it’s part of my charm.” He teased with a roguish grin.

 “No, it’s why you don’t have friends.”

 “But _Sheska_ , I thought _you_ were _my friend_.” He said huskily and Sheska’s cheeks colored. The way he spoke made her heart flutter wildly in her chest and not so wholesome thoughts cross her mind.

 She saw his grin widen and she grew outraged that he recognized her reaction to him. Sheska grabbed the first thing nearby, the scissors Envy had almost menaced Winry with, and threw it at him. They struck the wall an inch to the right of Envy’s head and stayed as she turned to leave.

 “Nice shot, Hawkeye!”

 “Shut up, pussy whipped!” she shot back as she threw open the door and met an angry looking Pinako.

 “ _What_ is going on in here?!” she yelled and the entire room was silent. She brushed by Sheska and pointed at the two younger Elric brothers. “You two get downstairs, there’s nothing to see.”

 Pinako pointed at Envy, “And _you_ , lay down and shut up.”

 “Yes ma’am.” Came Envy’s meek reply and did as he was told.

 She turned to Hohenheim, “Didn’t you say you had something you wanted to give that boy?”

 “Thank you for reminding me, Pinako.” The man told her with an amused smile and stepped out to retrieve said object. Finally, it was just Sheska and her with Envy.  
 “Umm.” Sheska said before being interrupted.

 “I figured you’re the best person to explain what happened and why I could hear everyone from downstairs.”

 “Well, Envy woke up and didn’t remember where he was at and tried pulling a blade on Winry.”

 “The scissors in the wall.”

 “Yes. But he ended up fainting…”

 “I didn’t faint.” Envy told her. The older woman shot him a threatening look and he was silent.

 “But Winry caught him before he could fall. We heard the noise and came running. Everything else, to make a long story short, was Envy being a jerk.”

 Pinako snorted, “Good grief.”


	37. Chapter 37

  “You know how lucky you are?”

**Silence**

 “ _Very_ lucky.” Pinako said as she rewrapped the bandages around his chest and back.

 “Yer lucky those nice people helped you out. Yer lucky you had the skills to staunch the bleeding. Heh, yer lucky you didn’t go into shock right when this happened.”

**Silence.**

 “And you’re dang lucky your dad had those red stones on him.” She told him as she completed her task.

 “Yeah, I’m just cursed with good fortune, y’dusty old trout.” Envy muttered. Without missing a beat, Pinako cuffed him on the back of the head.

 “I may be old but I’m not senile _or deaf!”_ she snapped as he rubbed the sore spot on his head.

 “You could make a straight man gay.”

 “Hasn’t stopped your father.” Pinako shot back and Envy genuinely laughed.

 “So how did you and the bastard meet?” he asked gingerly rising from the bed and testing the dressing.

 “In a bar.”

 “Why am I not surprised.” Envy muttered as he began looking for his shirt. He found it along with his borrowed coat and hat sitting on the other bed.

 “So you’re a bourbon drinker?” he asked as he slid on the cleaned shirt. When he began doing up the buttons, he noticed the texture was different and realized someone in his family took the blood out with alchemy.

 “Heh, you one too? I need a cheerier drinking partner. Yer old man’s too gloomy.”

 “I’d drink you under the table, young lady.”

 Pinako’s lips quirked, “You can try.”

 Envy chuckled as she helped him into his coat, “Sorry, I’m not much of a bourbon drinker. Kinda avoid it, actually.”

 “Don’t like the taste?” she asked as he edged by her.

 “Don’t like the person I associate with it.” Envy then started to leave when Pinako spoke up.

 “You know that girl punched your father.”

 Envy stopped at the door and had to smother an incredulous bark of laughter. When he gained a semblance of control he asked the question on his mind.

 “How’d she manage to hit that high?” An honest giggle escaped from his pressed lips.

 “She kicked him between the knees.” Pinako replied and Envy clutched his sides with laughter. “Don’t believe me, go talk to Hohenheim. _Or her_ , but you’ll find him sooner.”

 “He’s been lurking?”

 “You could say that.” She said a wise and knowing look. Envy snorted as he opened the door and left.

 Envy found his father sitting on the porch watching Ed and Al spar in the yard as he nursed a drink from a wooden mug. A fond smile lit up his face as he observed Ed’s quick kicks and his younger brother’s solid blocks.

 “Jaw, chin or eye.” Envy asked sitting on the steps a fair distance away from Hohenheim. His father smiled as Al threw his brother, only for Ed to land on his feet.

 “Jaw.” He answered. “Sadly it hurt her more than it hurt me.”

 “Sheska doesn’t know how to punch… _Or fight really.”_

 “She knew enough to get me down to her level.” Hohenheim told his son and saw Envy hide a grin. “Would have stung more if she didn’t kick so high.”

 “Critiquing a half blind little girl’s fighting ability? _My how the mighty have fallen_.”

 “I like her. She seems nice.”

 “I don’t care.” Envy darkly responded and his father smiled.

 “The boys told me about what you two have been up to.”

 “Hm?”

 “You put on a show to buy food for… _Sheska_ was it?” when Envy nodded Hohenheim resumed speaking.

 “They also suspect you might have stolen a bee hive." he heard Envy snort and asked, “Might I ask why you did that?”

 “To sic the bees on some pests.” His son responded then rolled his eyes. “Look, I saw Lust and Gluttony had Sheska cornered and so I grabbed it, threw it as hard as I could and got her _and_ _me_ out of there.”

 “Did it work?”

 “Haven’t seen them since.”

 “Then I suppose it was fine.” Hohenheim mused aloud and his son angrily spun on him.

 “How was I supposed to know that hive wasn’t natural?” Envy snapped. “It wasn’t a box and it was sitting in the middle of nowhere.”

 Hohenheim held up his hands, “I wasn’t blaming you.”

 Envy turned back around and with a scowl saw Ed and Al were watching him and their father.

 “What? You two have a problem with me arguing with the old man?” he snapped and Ed shrugged.

 “So long as you act your age and not your IQ.” The state alchemist told him offhandedly. Envy ominously slowly stood and his father winced.

 “I don’t believe I heard you correctly. _Ed_.” The homunculus growled, “Care to repeat that?”

 “ _Brother_.” Alphonse hissed but his brother ignored the warning and laughed at his half-brother.

 “Are you deaf along with dumb?”

 There was a blur of motion and then Envy was off the porch and tackled Edward to the ground. The alchemist landed hard on his stomach, knocking the breath from his body allowing Envy an opening to punch his brother in the side. The homunculi rolled Ed over and straddled his body and started punching him wildly wherever he could.

 Finally, the alchemist managed to defend himself and blocked the blows with his automail. There was a sickening crack from Envy’s hand and Envy rolled backwards, kicking Edward in the face just as his body sparked, healing the broken bones. Ed lunged, throwing a well-aimed punch toward Envy’s face but his elder brother dodged backwards. He caught the fist and moved to put the teen into a painful hold. Before the move could be completed a clap cracked in the air followed by a flash of light and both brothers found themselves immobilized by light constructs the very image of Alphonse.

 “That’s enough roughhousing for now.” Hohenheim said sweetly stepping down off the porch between his sons. The creations moved and both blond young men dangled in front of their father.

 “Oh so _now_ you’re gonna to act like a father?” Ed said petulantly. “Do you know how many times he’s tried to _kill_ me?”

 “Grow up.” Envy replied snidely. “Didn’t your mother teach you to be a man?”

 “Well it’s obvious _your_ mom didn’t teach you manners.”

 “At least I didn’t try to bring mine back by using my brother as a meat bag!”

 Everyone froze in a stunned tableau. Alphonse at the callous explanation of how he became bound to a suit of armor. Edward confronted by his greatest mistake. Hohenheim comprehending just how horrifically his sacrifice destroyed his family.

 The construct that held both Edward and Envy vanished and their father’s eyes darkened with pain.

 “Oh Edward.”

 “You weren’t there!” Fullmetal shouted pointing an accusatory finger at him.

 “Seems to be a theme with you.” Envy commented with a shrug and his father angrily spun on him.

 “Let me fix one mistake before fixing another.” He snapped only moments afterwards realizing his error.

 His son’s face morphed from one of shock to anger. Any progress Hohenheim might have gained before this moment were lost.  Walls that might have came down were shored up harder and higher than before.

 “I see.” Envy said eerily calm as Edward blanched and inched away. “I’ll just..let you go do that.”

 “ _Envy_ ”

 “I’ll leave.” He told his father avoiding his gaze by dusting off his borrowed clothes. “After all can’t have _mistakes_ hanging around.”

 Hohenheim reached and gripped his son’s wrist frantic and without thinking said the thing he needed the most.

 “Don’t go.”

 He could see the fragile indifferent mask cracking. The feelings that were long held back flooding to the surface. The slender arm within his grasp tensed and shuddered, his lip beginning to tremble. Hohenheim released his son and said more gently.

 “Don’t stray too far.”

 And in a blink, he was gone.

 Envy ran, ran with every bit of energy he possessed. He ran until tears blinded his way and he tripped and fell ungracefully, skinning his knees and cheek. The pain was sharp and his throat hurt from the centuries of unshed tear.

  ** _Don’t go._**

 How long ago did he once utter those words to his father? The scared abomination in the darkness to the man of light. Just a child scared of the uncertainty around him only to be cruelly denied such safety.

 He tore at his skin trying to erase the warm touch of his father’s hand on his wrist. He wasn’t allowed to say that. After so long. After everything. No, that touch it wasn’t real. It was illusion.

 Emotion bubbled up past his chest and up his throat, a primal scream erupted ascending to the heavens. He wasn’t there! He left me! I was so scared! Why did he go? What did I do wrong? Why? WHY? **WHY**?!

 Silence descended on the area, broken by soft sobs and harsh whispers. She found him hunched over, his shoulders heaving. Such a proud yet broken boy, she thought before moving forward. She sat next to the broken creature placing his bloody hand in her own.

 “ _You’re_ certainly not hard to find.” Sheska commented as she looked at his wrist. “I bet they heard you in Central.”

 He jerked his arm away from her and began feverishly wiping at his eyes. Gently, she took his hands and turned him toward her.

 She felt a stab of pain at the anguish she saw reflected in those familiar eyes. Beneath the harsh cunning façade, behind all the cocky remarks, the deadly skill was simply a lost little boy. Not unlike another boy Sheska knew of who was left adrift and forced to find his own way. A boy who also was abandoned by the same man. However, unlike that boy, Envy did not have someone like Pinako or even the support of a brother.

 “Come here.” Sheska said before hugging him. He awkwardly rested his chin against her shoulder before he relaxed and turned his head burying his face in her neck.

* * *

 Pinako walked following the light construct Hohenheim created that circled overhead to where it tracked Envy. The alchemist warned her that his son might have injured himself and so she brought with her a basket of bandages. However, what greeted her after her twenty-minute journey was something quiet different.

 She smiled at the serene scene when she found the two sometime later.  Sheska sat gently petting Envy, speaking quietly as she rocked him. Envy relaxed with his eyes shut.

 “..Then the entire stack fell on me and he had to rescue me. And _that_ is how I met the _great_ Fullmetal Alchemist. Your turn.”

 “Most embarrassing meeting… when I walked in on my mother and Greed.” Envy snickered. “She didn’t even bother covering up. Just told me ‘Would you close the door behind you?' Needless to say, I learned to _knock_ before entering a room with her.”

 Sheska’s shoulders shook, “ _Ouch_ , how did Greed react?”

 “He waved. Narcissistic freak actually flaunted it.” Envy snickered, “Jokes on him, gentlemen aren’t the only ones that prefer blonds.”

 Sheska had a disturbing thought and contemplated not asking but couldn’t deny the temptation.

 “Hohenheim … _only_?” Sheska asked. Envy leaned up and quirked an eyebrow, a small grin on his face.

 “You wouldn’t be asking if my _mother_ asked me to impersonate my _father_ now would you?” he cleared his throat. “That’s a pretty perverted thought there, Miss Bookworm. Been reading one too many bodice rippers?”

 Sheska blushed, “Sorry, I mean you _could_ …and she…”

 “The answer is no.”

 She let out a sigh of relief and Envy laughed.

 “I’d like to think she considered me her son, even if it were just a little.” He said wistfully. “Of all the homunculi, I was the one that she seemed to trust the most. But it was probably more like Dante was trying to forget him.”

 “Is that the real reason you never used your true form? Because you knew it hurt her seeing it?”

 Envy thought back to his first true memories. After his father left, after consuming red stones and gaining a human form. He recalled his master’s face. The haunted look in her eyes. The gentle caress against his cheek. Her trembling red lips. The slap to his face.

 “I hid what I looked like because it made life easier.” He finally said laying his head down on her shoulder.

 “Ah, your _adoring_ female fan club.” Sheska said with a smile recalling the scene at the bar.

 As she left the basket behind and turned to leave, Pinako failed to notice the troubled expression on Envy’s face and the lie on his lips

 “Yeah, it was the women.”


	38. Chapter 38

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All caught up! Now unless I build up a buffer (doubtful LOL) it'll be one chapter at a time from here on out.

* * *

 

 “Think he’ll be back?” Alphonse asked quietly as he watched his father stare off toward the construct circling some distance away.

 “Probably.” His brother replied lounging on the couch.

 Alphonse heard Edward snort and he turned away from where Hohenheim sat on the porch and looked toward his brother. He found him with his eyes shut with an odd smile.

 “What is it?”

 “Did you see how fast Sheska ran off?”

 “Before or after she slapped Dad?”

 “He’s been a horrible influence on her.” Ed commented with a smirk recalling how his friend wasn’t afraid to put in her two cents. “ _But_..”

 “She’s braver and confident.”

 “And he’s not as smart mouthed and homicidal.” Ed replied and corrected himself, “Well, he’s still a smart-aleck. And a jerk.”

 “You’re just mad because Winry hit you with a wrench.”

 “She hit you too!” Ed cried jerking up in his seat. “Tell me, what the heck _were_ we supposed to do? Say _‘No Envy, you’re not a mistake?’_ You know that’s a lie.”

 “It’s just..it has me thinking. What really _is_ a ‘human’?” Alphonse asked. “Is it their body? Their soul? Or is something else?”

 Edward laid back down as his brother continued.

 “I’m a soul inside a suit of armor. You have an automail arm and leg. And Dad? Dad’s in someone else’s body. How can _we_ claim to be human?”

 “I think, therefore I am.” Hohenheim said from outside. “You think you are human, therefore you _are_ human. Because you perceive yourself as humans, you will act humanely. However if you think yourself a monster, you will behave as one.”

 They heard him sigh, “It took me a long time to realize this but I took the very essence of my son and put him in a grisly form. Then I knowingly left him in a hostile environment. Envy wasn’t born a monster I _made_ him into one.”

 They saw him glance over his shoulder at them, “And now you both have repeated my mistake. You both knew the laws and paid no heed. So tell me, where is the monster _you_ created?”

 “We left what remained in the house when we burned it.” Edward replied emotionless. His father sighed once more and shook his head.

 “I suppose by now you realize how ineffective that was.”

 Before either boy could retort, Pinako walked inside with a secret little smile on her lips. Not long afterwards, Hohenheim followed her toward the kitchen where she began to prepare dinner.

 “How is..?” he asked noticing with a grin his younger sons discretely listening in.

 “In a better mood.” Pinako answered as she worked. “The girl and him were sharing embarrassing stories.”

 Hohenheim heard someone snicker and he smothered a grin before asking, “Oh?”

 “Learned a bit more about him and his mother too.” The older woman commented with a knowing grin. “She’s still rather fixated with you.”

 His grin turned wan, “I see.”

 Pinako glanced up at him, “You’re horrible, you know that right.”

 “So my children tell me.”

 She grunted, “And here I thought the sense of humor came from his mother.”

 “That would be his temper.”

 Pinako went back to cooking, “If I recall you once told me you had quite the short fuse in your youth…or did Edward get his attitude from someone else.”

 “I do _not_ have an attitude!” floated Edward’s voice from the living room. 

 “Do too.” Came Winry’s voice from the workshop.

 “Do not ” 

 “You really do.” Chimed in Envy from the porch.

 With a happy cry and metal clanking, Alphonse threw open the door, lifted Envy in his arms and crushed his brother to him. When Edward and their father reached the outside, they found the youngest member of their family rubbing his metal cheek against Envy’s.

 “You came back!” Al said with delight as his eldest brother winced at the harsh metal scraping against his face and Sheska tried not to laugh.

 “I wish I didn’t.” Envy lamented planting both hands against the helm and pushed against Al to prevent him from cuddling.

 “What happened to your arm?” Ed asked pointing at the bandages around Envy’s wrists as Al put him down on his feet.

 “Was thinking about getting some automail. Think I could get a discount?” The homunculi was quick to reply. “Y’know seeing how much business I’ve given the Rockbell’s by breaking _your_ arm so many times?”

 “I thought you said you were going to try and make an effort not to be such an ass.” Sheska sighed as she rubbed her temples.

 “But it’s just so easy.”

 “Which is why you make _an effort_.”

  “I’m not making an effort.” Envy scowled then pointed at his family. “They hate me and I know it. Why bother.”

 “Because it’s too much trouble to keep hitting your dad.” Sheska retorted evenly and the man in question snorted. “And I’d break my hand if I slapped Al.”

 “And if Ed even thinks about hitting you he’s going to need _two_ automail arms.” Envy said sweetly with an all too happy smile.

 “Aw you’re sweet. A little murderous, but sweet.” Sheska replied and he stuck his tongue out at her. 

 “I wouldn’t hit a girl.” Ed muttered under his breath. “Unlike some we know.”

 “Bite me, Lust was trying to kill us.” Envy snapped. “It’s either I hit her or she smothers me with her huge knockers!”

 They heard Hohenheim chuckle as Edward’s face turned red and tripped over his tongue for a comeback that never would arrive. The older alchemist appeared shortly thereafter and motioned to his prodigal son.

 “Have a seat. Tell me about your journey.” He told Envy. “How did you and Sheska meet? What other than demolishing beehives have you done?”

 Cautiously Envy inched toward the couch his father indicated and sat down guardedly. Sheska shook her head and sat down next to the homunculi while Ed, Al and Hohenheim took a seat close by.

 “A mutual friend set our paths to cross.” Envy told them.

 “I should have clarified, I meant _where_ did you meet.”

 “Since we’re _clarifying_ , do you mean _meet_ as in actually know each other or know _of_ the other.” 

 Hohenheim sighed as Sheska rolled her eyes with annoyance and answered him.

 “We met while he was trussed up like a turkey at a military lab.”

 Envy smirked and shrugged, “What can I say? I’m into bondage.”

 His father took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose with a groan. 

 “I see. So he was a prisoner at a lab belonging to the military. Did you help him escape?” he asked Sheska in a resigned tone.

 “Pretty much.” She responded feeling the alchemist’s frustration over his son’s flippancy. “After that we stopped at a hotel.”

 “Was my son a gentleman?” Hohenheim asked politely and Sheska winced recalling waking sans clothes.

 “Um…he did laundry for me.”

 “Why do I get the impression it wasn’t as good a deed as you make it.” Ed asked and his friend blushed. Alphonse and his father noticed her reaction and the elder sighed.

 “Did he..?” Al asked before his eldest brother’s smug grin answered him.

 “Well guess it’s a good thing Envy’s gay.” Edward commented and his brother’s grin turned mocking.

 “I’m about as gay as you are, _runt_.”

 “Who're you calling…” Edward screamed leaping to his feet and Envy actually pointed at him and laughed.

 “It's so fun to rile you up.” He told him. “For your information, I was _legitimately_ just trying to get her clothes clean.”

 “And you couldn’t just wash them while Sheska was still wearing them?” Ed demanded still standing. Envy gave him a disturbed look.

 “Let me say it slowly so you’ll get it through your skull: Her. Clothes. Were. _Covered_. In. Blood.” His brother scoffed. “You seem to have this picture in your head that I’m some depraved sex fiend and here _you’re_ the one encouraging me to feel up an unconscious girl.”

 Edward blushed and Hohenheim chose this time to change the subject.

 “So… anything else happen on your way?”

 “We met a nice couple.” Sheska told him.

 “I stripped for cash.”

 His father paused and cleared his throat as Edward’s jaw dropped.

 “They live not that far from here and gave us some clean clothes to wear.” Sheska said ignoring Envy’s obvious attempt to stir up trouble.

 “I won first prize.”

 Sheska glared at him, “At first they mistook Envy for Ed but he took it well enough.”

 “She got sloshed.”

 “Would you stop trying to get a reaction! Greed made you do that competition.” she snapped at him. “You had to do it in your true form, you got tons of female attention and you hated the whole thing. _There!”_

 The room was suddenly silent broke only by the distant sounds from the kitchen. It was quiet until soft laughter began to swell into full blown giggles.

 “I can see how they mixed Ed with Envy.” Hohenheim commented trying to hold in his amusement. “They do look alike.”

 “Stop trying humor me.” Sheska snapped, “You want to know how I got drunk.”

 “No, I can probably guess.”

 “Oh?”

 “You had a drink a woman tried to roofie Envy with.” The alchemist tried catching his breath.

 “And how would you know?”

 “Because it happened to Trisha.”

 “What?!” the Elric brothers exclaimed in unison as Sheska and Envy cracked up.

 “I was having dinner with your mother and somehow our glasses got switched and she ended up…” the alchemist’s words drifted into laughter as he recalled the hilarity of that night.

 “I remember that day.” Pinako said walking in with a steamy pot and placed it on the table. “If I recall, dinner was at my house and my mischievous son was the one who tried drugging your father.”

 “Thought it’d loosen him up. Little did he know Trisha switched their drinks and got a little more ‘liquid courage’ than she planned.”

 “Uh oh.” Envy told the old woman. “I take it my father was _not_ a gentleman that day.”

 “He didn’t strip a vulnerable young lady unlike _someone_ we both know.” 

 “So he wasn’t a complete bastard.”

 “He disappeared for two weeks.”

 “He’s does that.”

 “He came back.”

 “If he hadn’t, we wouldn’t be now graced with Edward’s _lovely personality_.” Envy replied with a thin-lipped smile.

 “Like yours is any better, bog brush.”

 “Specky old saw.” Envy responded without missing a beat.

 “Haystack kid!” Pinako shot back.

 “Rag and bone shop!”

 “You’re pretty good at this game.” Pinako laughed and motioned for everyone to come eat. Once everyone had sat down, Envy squeezing his chair in between Sheska and Winry, they began eating.

 “So Envy,” the elderly woman said just as Envy placed his first bite of stew in his mouth. “What’s this I hear you being an exotic dancer?”

 The homunculi choked as Winry’s jaw dropped and flushed while Sheska laughed.

 “Ha ha, serves you right.” The former librarian said as Al passed him a glass of milk and Envy gulped it down without looking. He turned a unique shade of green upon realizing what he drank.

 “Christ Al, I thought you were my friend.” Envy gagged covering his mouth with his hand. The suit of armor looked rather confused and startled at his eldest brother’s reaction and their father repressed a wince.

 “Envy doesn’t like drinking milk.”

 The homunculi darted off to presumably purge his system of the foreign dairy invasion while Edward laughed at his brother’s misfortune.

 “Vengeance is _mine!”_


	39. Chapter 39

            They had their fill and dinner had long since grown cold. Plates were gathered, and left overs put away. Friends and family relaxed hours later and still there was no sign of their missing guest.

            “I’m sorry.” Alphonse apologized again, and his father smiled, patting him on a steel shoulder.

            “It’s fine.” Hohenheim told him for what seemed like the millionth time. “He’s probably found something that interested him and simply got caught up in it.”

            Edward looked up from the book he was reading and tapped the edge of it with his automail finger before returning to its contents.

            “Yeah but I don’t think there are very many books here that might interest him.” Winry responded with a frown and Sheska shrugged as distantly music began to play.

            “He likes some pretty odd subjects.” She told her. “Mysteries. Gardening books.”

            “Hohenheim has an interest in mechanics.” Pinako revealed. “It’s how we met.”

            “I doubt he’s developed a fascination with automail.” Hohenheim said moving his head in time with the piano music. “Pinako, I never realized how close the neighbors were.”

            “Hm?”

            “I can hear their radio playing.” He closed his eyes and listened. “Chopin’s Nocturne number two in E flat. Opus Nine if I’m not mistaken.”

            Sheska closed her eyes as well and listened, finally noticing the faint music from the classical piece. The gentle melody, the smooth transition from note to note. The complex yet simple piece was artfully and nearly flawlessly executed revealing the skill of the pianist and composer alike.

            “You idiot.” Pinako chided the alchemist, “I’m the only house within a mile.”

            Sheska’s eyes snapped open as the woman chuckled.

            “I remember now, someone gave me a piano when Urey was young. I’m not much of a musician so I never messed with the thing.”

            “Hm, so he remembers.” Hohenheim mused with a fond smile.

            _That’s Envy playing?_ Sheska thought, a soft gasp escaping her. She listened with bewilderment as the piano piece shifted to a vaguely familiar tune. Something about the music made her reminisce of snowy days and presents.

            “Envy knows how to play the piano?” Alphonse asked his voice gushing with excitement and admiration. “How?”

            “Dante insisted that any child of hers _had_ to know how to play.” His father answered his voice taking on a mock air of arrogance and snobbish aplomb that had him grinning. He then shrugged adding, “I’m surprised Envy kept it up seeing how I recall a time when a certain young man transmuted the instrument into a nude sculpture.”

            Pinako shook her head and silently laughed as she stepped outside to smoke her pipe and Sheska tried to imagine the rather absurd scene Hohenheim spoke of. After a while more the music switched to a darker classical piece and the former librarian noticed one side of Hohenheim’s mouth quirked as he nodded in time.

            “Beethoven's piano Sonata number fourteen in C minor, Opus twenty-seven, number two.” He informed her “But you might know it better as Moonlight Sonata.”

            “You’re a music connoisseur.” Sheska said to him with an air of amazement and the alchemist chuckled and dipped his head briefly.

            “When your son and his mother are both musicians, you tend to pick up a few things.”

            Sheska’s face scrunched up and before she could ask, Alphonse cut her off.

            “ _Dante’s_ a musician?!”

            “It was a popular pastime for ladies at the time.” His father told him adding, “She used to play the harp and sing if I remember correctly.”

            “She can _sing_?”

            Hohenheim laughed at the sheer disbelief and surprise in Al’s voice and he scratched the back of his head. Sheska’s eyes went wide and her thoughts screamed.

            _Ohmygosh_ _**that’s** where I saw that gesture! Envy, Ed and Al all do that, they must have seen their father do it all the time._

“Yes, she can..at least she _used_ to.” The older alchemist responded and quickly changed the subject so to avoid any mention of pilfering other people’s bodies for their own use. “Sheska, why don’t you invite Envy to join us. I might be able to transmute a violin if he wants to continue playing music.”

            “He can play the violin too?” Al cried as Sheska got up and went in search of her wayward friend.

            The melody grew stronger the further inside she went. Upstairs, leading deeper into the home, Sheska followed the music until she reached what looked to be the end. Above her head, she reached and pulled down the loft ladder to the attic.

            Once the door opened, the piano’s music grew louder and she quietly took the steps leading up. Sheska passed boxes full of memories and covered furniture following the sound before she saw him.

            His hair was pulled back fully and the tail swayed in time to the music. His fingers danced over the keys and his expression was thoughtful. When she stood at his side, Sheska noticed Envy sit up straighter on the bench.

            “You play the piano.” She said and he grinned in response, still focused on the keys before him.

            “I play quite _a few_ instruments.”

            “Hohenheim did mention you play the violin.”

            “My _mother_ insisted.” Envy replied and puckered his lips. “At least if my teacher was a pretentious bastard, it was easier to hide a violin than a piano.”

            Sheska snickered, “Was that the reason for the nude sculpture? Your teacher cheesed you off.”

            “He called me an inept gutter parvenu with an amateurish talent for nothing but a romp in the hay.”

            Sheska busted up laughing, “Sorry that was a bit too high brow of an insult. Could you translate?”

            Envy chuckled, “He called me a talentless bastard whose only real use was to work in a brothel.”

            “A _brothel_.” She said with a confused expression. “Weren’t those just for guys?”

            Envy’s grin turned x-rated and he silently looked up at her cheekily until her face turned red at the insinuation.

            “Wow.”

            “History is dark, whether you like it or not.” He told her as he changed the piece he was playing mid-note. “So what else have you learned from my _dear Father?”_

            “You get your talent naturally.”

            “Oh he told you I sing, huh.” He said and when Sheska did a doubletake, winced. “He did _not_. Well that’s awkward.”

            “If I asked, would you…?”

            “ _No_.”

            “That’s not fair!” Sheska whined crossing her arms in front of her with a scowl. “You asked me for a favor and when I ask…”

            Envy ceased playing with an ominous smile then turned toward her and rose to his feet.

            “Would you like for me to show you what you missed back at the strip club?” he asked in a smoldering tone. Sheska blanched and hastily backed away.

            “Nothat’sfine!”

            He took a step toward her and reached for the buttons on his shirt, never once losing that mysterious smile.

            “It seems to be _not_ fine if you’re bringing it up.” He told her, flicking one button loose. “

            “I wasjustsaying about… _favors_!”

            Another button was freed and Sheska’s gaze was drawn to his solidly muscled chest. Envy took another step and reached out for her.

            “Then allow me.”


End file.
